If Jesus called you to drop everything and follow him, could you? Could you leave behind your new car, your friends, or your computer? I will be the first to admit that I would have an incredibly difficult time doing so because I’m so used to having these material goods in my daily life! Yet, when Jesus says to drop everything and follow him, I don’t think he’s just talking about physical things. I think that when you step outside of your comfort zone to follow Jesus, you also have to give up a sense of security, comfort, and familiarity. In my mind, giving up these things may be even more difficult than giving up an iPhone.
My journey to Creighton began while I was in adoration one day. I felt that, for some reason, I was being called to this school – and the idea of that scared me so much. You see, I had never been away from my parents for longer than a week, I had never been to Omaha before, and I didn’t know anyone who would be within a 7 hours drive from me. In order to follow Jesus’ call, I didn’t necessarily have to give up my things (on the contrary, I think my mom would complain about the amount of boxes I brought to college!),but I did have to give something up – I had to give up my sense of security and familiarity. My entire life I was guarded by my parents, but now, I had to live in a strange place all by myself. I cannot tell you how many times I wanted to change my mind and go to a closer school so I could be in a place where I knew where the closest gas station was, and what neighborhoods to avoid, but I felt Jesus was telling me to go to Creighton. I had to put my trust in him, leave behind my parents, my house, and sense of certainty, if I was to answer his call. Three years later, I can tell you that that was the best decision I ever made.
Most of the time, Jesus doesn’t call us to action when it’s easy for us. We might have to give up our physical goods or our sense of certainty and security in order to follow Him. Jesus might call us to go out of our comfort zones, but we have to trust in him to care for us during this time. This is difficult to do, but look at how beautiful it is. If we were never called to give something up, would we ever truly see how important it was to us? Would we ever truly know how much trust we had in our Lord? Would we ever see how much good comes when you step out into the unknown? Today we are challenged to ask ourselves if we could “drop everything and go” if we were called to. What would happen if we got a job offer in a different state or country? What if we were called to pursue a different career path? What if we were called to a life of service? Could you do it? Could you put your fears aside and trust in the Lord? Could you drop everything, physically and mentally, and follow him?
