Come follow Jesus

When Jesus called the disciples, He didn't say, "Come, I want you to be world-changers, and impact the lives of millions of people, and found a new religion, and preach to people of different ethnicities and cultures, and face persecution for My sake, and die because of Me. Listen, and I will teach you My plan for how to become the kind of person that can do this, and then send you out to do it." He just said, in most cases, "Come follow Me."

Maybe that's all I need to be worried about in each of day of my life. Not, "Am I making the right education or career choice for the rest of my life, so that I'll be prepared for what God wants me to do?" or "What should I do so that I can have the greatest impact or change the world the most?", but "Am I following Jesus, in this moment, with these thoughts and these decisions?"

I like the scale of that - I can leave the big worries to Him and focus on the present, the tangible, the thoughts and feelings of the moment. And I like the intimacy, too, the way it forces me to think about Jesus and draw near to Him not at some remote point in the future but right then and there. He isn't a distant God who wants me to work for Him and please Him with my efforts over the sum total of my life, but a close and near God who wants me to follow Him as He leads each and every day.