Mark 1:14-20 (NRSV)
Read Mark 1:14-20 on biblegateway.com
Verse 14Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God,
Verse 15and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news."
Devotion
“How do you know you are called to the ministry?” my internship advisor asked me. I named things I thought I could do well. Ah, wrong answer! He told me that there was only one reason to go into the ministry: God wants it to happen. It’s a calling.
This week ask people why they’ve undertaken their life’s work. Let them talk through their reasons. Skills for the job are seldom the answer. Instead, I think you’ll hear that they’re doing what they believe helps people, what gives them deep satisfaction, and what God wants them to do. From day care teacher to CEO, the answer is about how God calls them forth, or you’re talking to people who are still searching for their life’s work, God’s calling for them. I wonder what those fishermen would have answered the day Jesus walked by? We find their words in our own hearts.
Prayer
Jesus, when you call us from other tasks to your work, it’s a chain reaction, from excitement to doubt to satisfaction and back again. Help our response to you to be as human, as exciting, and as fruitful as the ones you originally called. Amen.