Trigger

Sometimes it takes an event to trigger an action.

Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news." As Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the sea-- for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, "Follow me and I will make you fish for people." And immediately they left their nets and followed him. As he went a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John, who were in their boat mending the nets. Immediately he called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men, and followed him. - Mark 1:14-20

The way Mark tells it, one would think that Jesus would not have started his ministry while John the Baptist was actively preaching and baptizing.

When John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee.

We are not always ready to start something new or to make a change in our lives.  Sometimes it takes a change to realize we need to do something.

We don't know how long John was out there preaching about repentance, but it is believed it was over three years before Jesus started his ministry.

It makes me wonder what John did before.  We know he lived in the wilderness, dressed strangely and ate bugs, but was he always that way?

Something triggered him to get started.

The trigger may be a positive event, or it may be something negative, the loss of a job, the death of a loved one, or a diagnosis.

We need triggers to get moving, even if we think we are already moving.

I don't believe God makes these events happen to trigger us to do something, but I do believe God is with us when they happen.

His spirit holds us together as we deal with what has changed, and it guides us to come up with something that will continue to hold us together.

This is what Jesus was showing us, I believe.  

It's time to move.

More to come...