That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him.
Mark 4:35-36
Just a small thought today.
There’s a lot going on in the two verses above. A bit of context helps us understand, for example, that Jesus is suggesting that he and his disciples go to ‘the other side’ of the Sea of Galilee, to the region of the Gerasenes. This was a pagan Gentile region that the disciples wouldn’t have been happy to visit at all. And what about that little line at the end – ‘There were also other boats with him’. Did you know that was there? Had you noticed that before?
But what I have been thinking about is those two contrasting phrases – Jesus saying, “Let us go…” and then the disciples ‘…took him along’. I don’t want to read too much into the passage, but I have wondered recently – how much of my journey consists of me jostling with God to be at the head of the party? How often does God suggest something and I respond with “Good idea, God. Follow me!”?
Maybe not that often, but I do wonder at times.
So that’s my small thought for this week. Do we call the shots while pretending that God is in charge? Do we listen for God to speak, and then immediately assume that we know the best way to go about whatever it is He is asking us to do? Do we prefer to lead or are we happy to be led?
