Immediately

Mt 4:18-22

"As Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers,
Simon who is called Peter, and his brother Andrew,
casting a net into the sea; they were fishermen.
He said to them,
"Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men."
At once they left their nets and followed him.
He walked along from there and saw two other brothers,
James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John.
They were in a boat, with their father Zebedee, mending their nets.
He called them, and immediately they left their boat and their father
and followed him"

Do you remember in elementary school how the firemen would come and visit? It was always a fun day, and I didn't realize until I was older they weren't just coming to entertain us. They would always put their full suits on, face masks and all, and tell us "not to be scared if we are caught in a fire and we see a firemen". Apparently they have had problems in the past with kids actually hiding from the firemen trying to save them because they were scared of them. So their solution to this is to have the kids get to know the firemen in advance so if they are put in that situation they will go to them.
It's an interesting concept, the fact that someone's house can be up in flames, crashing all around them, and they would choose to hide there instead of follow the one who's trying to save them from it. Except we all do it all the time. Jesus called the fisherman to leave everything behind, fishing was all they knew, it was their security. And he calls us to do the same. He calls us to come from the houses that are crashing all around us, and let him lead us to something so much better. But how often do we miss out because we are clinging to what is familiar. To those little kids, their bedrooms, no matter how terrible things are getting, are what they know. They don't know the firemen, so it's hard to leave the familiar and follow someone you don't know when you have no idea where they're taking you. 
I love this verse about Jesus calling his disciples because I love their faith. It says "he called them and immediately they left their boat and their father and followed him."  It doesn't say, they thought about it for a while, or they made plans to get things in order, or they said the timing just wasn't right, or even just let me sell these fish I caught today first. It just says "immediately". What was it about the way Jesus said those words that made them trust him with their whole lives? They must have seen his goodness and his love and heard of his good works. I've got to continue getting to know Jesus on an even deeper level, so that when things are crashing all around me and he wants to save me I will let him. And so when he calls me to leave behind everything, even my security, I can trust him enough to "immediately" follow because I know he's leading me to something so much better.   

Jesus, I want to know you even more than I do now. Be present with me today, remind me you are here, and give me the faith I need to follow where you are leading me. Especially the thing I am struggling with leaving behind most _______________, give me the trust to leave it for the better life you are offering. Amen.