Act on This Glorious News!

 

Act on this glorious news! (Mark 1:14-20)

“God’s Kingdom is near! Turn from your sins and act on this glorious news!” (Mark 1:15)

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I am walking with Jesus in Galilee as he shares his Good News with everyone he meets. To every man, woman, and child, in town squares, at open-air markets, along the side of the road – to everyone everywhere – Jesus is an itinerant preacher with a message to proclaim: “God’s Kingdom is near! Turn from your sins and act on this glorious news!”

With the message, Jesus also offers an invitation. “Follow me,” he said to Peter, Andrew, James, and John. “Come with me.” And you know what? That’s exactly what they did! They dropped everything and went with Jesus. 

Early on in this walk with Jesus, I am learning that he demands a response from everyone who encounters him. Every encounter with Jesus is a moment of decision. How will people respond to Jesus when they meet him? How will they respond to him when they hear him?

How do I respond to Jesus when I hear him?

The Good News, I am learning as I walk with Jesus, is not simply meant for us to discuss as a matter of curiosity or a current event. The Good News demands a response from all who hear it. To be more precise, the One who conveys, announces, proclaims the Good News – indeed, the One who is the embodiment of the Good News – demands a response from us.

When I think about Jesus’ call to turn from our sins, his call to change the direction of our lives; and when I think about Jesus’ invitation to follow him, to walk with him, then I realize that what he is asking of us is for us to devote ourselves fully to him. I mean, look: those four fishermen just dropped everything and left it all behind – even their families.

Walking with Jesus means that no other loyalty can supersede loyalty to Jesus. It means saying “Yes” to him before we even know what is going to happen. It means committing ourselves to Jesus with the realization that he, and not us, is the one who will determine our future and how the rest of our lives will play out. We don’t know where the road we walk with Jesus will take us, but we do know that he will be with us every step of the way. And that, I think, should be enough. It is enough.

“Act on this glorious news,” Jesus says to you and to me. “Follow me. Come with me. Walk with me.”

I have decided to follow you, Jesus. I have decided to walk with you, Jesus. 

No turning back, no turning back.