Right Now!

I can still hear dad yelling, "Do it now!" I make my dad out to be a big grump, from what I've recorded on the blog, but really he's a great fellow. When I was younger, I used to have a defiant side: Maybe I still do! Dad would 'encourage' me to get things done "now" because that's when he wanted it done. It wasn't unreasonable for him to say so, but there is something special about doing things immediately after you feel moved; whether by prompting or self motivation.

A single somewhat unusual word occurs three times in four concurrent verses in Mark 1. The same word is used twice more in the verses prior, and four more times later. The word is, "straightway." I had an idea of what it means, but I still had to look it up. Simply it means, "immediately," or, "forthwith," or "anon." We'll look at the three instances of our focus:

Now as he walked by the sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew his brother casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers. And Jesus said unto them, Come ye after me, and I will make you to become fishers of men. And straightway they forsook their nets, and followed him. And when he had gone a little further thence, he saw James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, who also were in the ship mending their nets. And straightway he called them: and they left their father Zebedee in the ship with the hired servants, and went after him. And they went into Capernaum; and straightway on the sabbath day he entered into the synagogue, and taught.
Mark 1:16-21

At the first, the Lord Jesus calls Peter and Andrew to be his disciples. We find that their response is nothing less than immediate. Instead of taking their sweet time, telling the Lord "next week," or having an excuse, we read that "straightway they forsook their nets, and followed him." Do we have the same attitude when the Lord calls us to do something? How about when our parents ask us to do something? How about if a friend asks us for a favour? The most important of all here is the Lord's call, and if we hear his voice we don't need to simply respond: people need to be able to say of us that "straightway they forsook __________, and followed Him."

The Lord's call is described as "straightway." As soon as He sees John and Andrew, He calls them. He seen their need, and they were ones that He wanted. Later in Mark 6:34, we read, "And Jesus, when he came out, saw much people, and was moved with compassion toward them, because they were as sheep not having a shepherd: and he began to teach them many things." The same idea can be put here that when He seen the people in need, "he began to teach them many things." Are we as "straightway" as the Lord Jesus was? First He sees some who He wants for followers and immediately calls them. What if we told every person of Christ? Surely some would be saved? What if we find those that are saved, but are in need of some teaching since they are wandering? Would we be like the Lord Jesus, "be moved with compassion," and "teach them many things?" Are we zealous for the name of the Lord as we should be? We all have a million excuses, but we lack compassion for souls and zeal for the Truth.

The last situation Jesus goes "straightway" into the synagogue and teaches at Capernaum. The first thing the Lord Jesus does as He goes into a new town is to make sure that the gospel is spread. He took the opportunity that the Jewish synagogues would present for a guest to expound on the word of God for critiquing. When we go places, are we sure that we are spreading the gospel? Is the excuse, "It's a holiday," or "I'll be doing plenty of that when we get there." It's a simple ministry to leave a gospel tract at a resturaunt or a gas station. Something small like this would no doubt be blessed by God, and would constitute the fulfillment of the requirement to be "straightway."

If it's the call of the Lord, we need to hear and obey His voice. When we see lost souls, or those sheep that need to be fed, are we delivering? Take the time to pack some tracts and leave them behind, or slip one into the book you return to the library, anyway to leave the word of God where it can prosper and be blessed of God. If we were to do each of these in time, we wouldn't have recieved the message clearly: "straightway," immediately, right now! The Lord will bless.