What's In A Word: Immediately

Mark 1:20-21 (ESV) —

‘And immediately he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants and followed him. And they went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath he entered the synagogue and was teaching.’

I think Mark and I would have got on – as I read his gospel, I’ve got to admit I like his take on things. The story he tells has pace, and his favourite word seems to be immediately – he uses it 41 times, and 11 times in just the first chapter!

I feel like I spend most of my life in a hurry, always wanting to maximise time and do things quickly. I’m not into dilly-dallying around and by nature I like to make a decision and take action pretty quickly. And the way Mark describes the way of Jesus, it seems like time is of the essence and things had momentum. The problem is, in my imperfect case, this living in the ‘immediately’ can lead to doing too many things at once, being rash, and regularly impatient.

But if we look a bit closer to the story, it seems Jesus mastered the art of living in the 'immediately', without rushing or not being present in the moment. Jesus seized the day, he took the opportunity in every single moment of his life here on earth, but he was able to do so only because he was fully present with the Holy Spirit in his life, leading and guiding every moment and every decision. The urgency that we sense in the book of Mark, the ‘immediately’ that we repeatedly read about, came from a deep, present reliance on the work of the Holy Spirit.

I wonder how today we might be able act with the immediacy of Jesus, with the confidence to move and act with conviction, but from a place of deep trust in God’s leading?

Prayer - Father, I recognise that I might have the tendency to rush on ahead of you, or to sit back and wait to act until I am sure that I have all bases covered. Help me to live with the 'immediately' of Jesus today – ready to act and respond but from a place of trust in your Holy Spirit’s ability to lead.