Living Outside Ourselves

In Matthew 4, we see the call of 4 of Jesus' disciples:
18 And Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. 19 Then He said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men." 20 They immediately left their nets and followed Him. 21 Going on from there, He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets. He called them, 22 and immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him.  Simon, Andrew, James, and John heard the call of Jesus.   And, we are told in all the instances that immediately they followed Him - they left their fishing nets and walked into a new and adventurous life with Jesus.   They didn't delay, didn't tell the Savior they'd get back with Him, or even say they needed to set some things in order.   They went immediately, without rationalizing.    I think that sometimes we can talk or think ourselves out of following Christ in what He has called us to do.   That's not to say we should be impulsive or presumptive.  But, if the Holy Spirit is dealing with our hearts and has shown us an area of need that He wants to address through us, then we can be confident that He will provide the way to fulfill what He has called us to do. 
Jesus gave a hard teaching, but it's so relevant to our lives as we contemplate living outside ourselves:
24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. 25 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. 26 For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?

After 700,000 votes cast, the 2012 Woman of the Year Reader's Choice Award from the website Glamour.com is - Katie Davis.   Do you know who Katie is?   Well, I must say that this is not the type of story that I would find on this website, which doesn't necessarily offer all-wholesome far.    But, Katie's story does offer a ray of light.   When she was 19, Katie was so inspired by a trip to an orphanage in Uganda that she returned to her home in Brentwood, Tennessee, and told her family that she was moving there.

Her ministry, Amazima Ministries International, connects 600 vulnerable children with sponsor families worldwide and feeds 1,500 kids a week.  Katie herself is adopting 13 daughters, ages 4 to 16.  She has chronicled some of her endeavors in the book, Kisses From Katie.  She is quoted as saying, “I never intend anyone to think, Wow, I want to do what she does...Service is just about saying yes to the people around you who need your help.”

Quite an amazing story of a young lady who looked outside herself, saw children in need, and followed the call of God to do something.  

There's another young lady who was profiled at CitizenLink.com this past week: her name is Vivienne Harr, and she's 8 years old!   She had seen a picture of two boys in Nepal with rocks strapped to their heads, and she told her parents, “We should do something”.  She started a lemonade stand near their house in Fairfax, California, and over the last four months, Vivienne has used it to raise more than $50,000 for a nonprofit group dedicated to ending modern-day slavery and human trafficking around the globe.

The “Make-A-Stand! Lemonade: The Sweet Taste of Freedom” project includes donations taken in person at the lemonade stand, as well as online, which go to an organization called Not For Sale.   This third-grader says, "I want to be making a difference for the rest of my life. Everyone can make a difference. My lemonade stand is where everyone can make a difference. If people like me can, I say everyone can."

These 2 young ladies can really inspire us!  I really do think that the Holy Spirit will point out needs to us on a consistent basis - our choice is whether or not we'll A) pay attention and recognize there may be a nudge from God's Spirit here and B) follow that prompting.   It does involve sensitivity, compassion, and a real dedication to see with spiritual eyes and then follow Christ, not matter what the cost.