Pray... Go... Give

I'm sitting on an old wooden rocking chair, on a porch facing west as the sun sets beyond some tall pines that reach high into the cool night sky. The chair is not particularly comfortable and the approaching darkness brings with it some blood sucking bugs so my time on this porch is limited but for the moment I'll hang out here and watch the setting sun create a soothing orange sky. The only thing that could make this better would be my wife sitting next to me.

I just finished reading one of my favorite Bible stories as it appears in the Bible, in the book of Mark. It isn't a new story to me, I've read it a lot and taught from it several times and its message always inspires me. Tonight however, as I read under the tangerine sky something caught my attention. Not new, it's been there every time I've read it, but tonight it strikes me fresh.

A quick look at the story shows us Jesus teaching along a shoreline and as the crowd grows, He gets pushed closer and closer the waters edge. Eventually he ends up on the boat of a fisherman named Simon - a man that is later called Peter and becomes a pretty important player in Christianity, but here, at this point, Simon is a fisherman.

He has spent the night fishing and caught nothing but as Jesus' teaching time ends, He instructs Simon to go into deep water - to catch fish. It's all wrong really; Simon is the fisherman and Jesus is the preacher but Simon recognizes Jesus as a man of some significance so he does as Jesus said - and because of it he catches fish. Lots of fish. So many that he needs help to get them in the boat. At the end of the story we see the following:

Then Jesus said to Simon "Don't be afraid; from now on you will catch men." So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed Him.

There's a lot in this story; faith, trust, obedience to God and Simon leaving behind his career, but what struck me was that Simon was a fisherman that has just had what was likely the best day in his career and that's the day he leaves it all behind - and that's what struck me. Would I have left a successful career to come work in the church? Would you? I remember the 'biggest sale of my career'... would I have left it all behind that day to come work in the church?

We were challenged in church yesterday to: "Pray. Go. Give." To ask God if there's more we can do to help this enormous and diverse world. Should we deliver God's love to a place where there is no fresh water and help build a well? Should we go to a place where AIDS kills at an alarming rate and give care? Go build a septic system for a city where the streets currently serve as the channel for the local sewage? Should we give money selflessly to help others do it?

I don't know where you are or what God may be doing in your life but I know that He has called those that claim to be followers of His son, Jesus Christ to go into all the world with His amazing love.. So...

• Pray... Ask what you should do - and do it - even if it happens on the 'best day of your career'
• Go... Go where it is you should go and share God's love. Africa? Haiti? South America? Your school? Your Work? Your own home?
  
• Give... Do everything you can to give. Less restaurants? Movies? Cheaper car? Smaller house?