Mark 1:16-20
...immediately they left their nets...and they left their father...
It seems that an aspect of the Kingdom of God which Jesus preached contained a call to leave that of finite worth in order to gain that of infinite worth (Philippians 3:8); to turn from those pleasures which were fleeting in order to turn toward truly satisfiying pleasures forevermore (Psalm 16:11); the disciples understood that to arrive, they must leave their present lives in the kingdom of self in order to begin a new life in the Kingdom of God.
I suggest that we must face the dilemma of leaving in order to arrive everyday. Everyday we choose from which world we will draw our sustenance and satisfaction--our daily bread and our daily joy. One world offers what seems to be sweet but in the end only lasts for a season; the other world offers what seems to be difficult and hard and not as enjoyable but in the end supplies infinite joy, peace, and real pleasure.
When we do begin to understand this we are on our way to arriving where the Holy One desires us to be--that is, the place where we can say with Paul, "To die is gain;" the place where nothing in this life compares to the eternal prize of being with Christ.
I visited with a man yesterday who has been given a short time to live until his cancer is expected to overtake him. His testimony is "to die is gain." He will honor Jesus in his death just has he has in this life. I'm not sure about you, but I know that my life does not reflect the conviction that "to die is gain." When I really evaluate it, my life fails to proclaim the choosing of another world over and against this one. Materialism, keeping up with the Joneses, finite thinking--we arrive when we finally leave.
Let us not wait until our deathbed to realize how the stuff of this world has failed us and pales in comparison to the next World. Let us today, and everyday, leave self and cling to the Savior.
