Matthew under the arm 10

I remember going on a long walk and being told off for using binoculars too much! 'You wont, Martin, be taken by surprise by what is present with you here if you keep on looking into the distance.' Mmmm. Perhaps. However, pilgrimages are about 'presence', what is going here and now! The wind is blowing in my face and I can't hear what Columba is saying to me. So I'll just pull my anorak hood over my head, get my little torch out and read this.... Oh then I'll take some time just walking in some kind of rhythm, weather permitting, and praying with my breath and my footsteps....

Matthew 4.18-22
Attractive and hazardous! No caution. Instantaneous obedience to following Christ. There are no requests for security. It is a waste of time speculating on the motive behind this following. What is supreme is God’s imperative and your obedience. To follow Christ expects a single-hearted response. The nets of the fisherman are vital, perhaps even for the local economy, but Christ’s demand puts a question mark over all enterprises, including those that look sensible! No attempt to make this passage easier to stomach works. When Love calls there is an option –Yes or No!

I would receive Your Gifts of Truth and Freedom that I may follow You


Heroism is to courage as following Christ is to Faith. Obedience to God – following Christ - is not heroism. It is the simple action of focusing on service of the lowliest – God - without necessarily being noticed. Serving the humdrum with the best you have. So what gets in the way of this? Let Christ drop into your heart the words: 'Follow me!' Don’t work at outcomes that raise the chances of false expectations. Just listen and watch in prayer and the more that that happens the more you will respond with the only response possible for you. Yes!

+Martin
Argyll and The Isles