Over the weekend I was talking with a friend of mine about the future. She is facing the choice of blending a family. Upon contemplating the enormous task ahead of her, she wonders if she can do it. It's hard! I know! And when I started the work of blending a family, I brought only myself, not other children. But then she spoke with great faith and she commented that perhaps there is no greater thing that she has to accomplish with her life. Her comments echoed Mordecai's counsel to Esther, "who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this? (Esther 4:15)."
Esther's faith at moving forward is like that of Peter, James, and John found in Luke 5:6-11. After they had been fishing all night long with no results, the Savior told them to cast their nets again. The catch was so large the boat began to sink. Immediately afterwards, they left it all and followed Christ. Just like Esther and my friend, they showed great faith and embarked upon the course the Lord desired of them.
As I pondered their decision, I realized it was so significant because of the choices they made the rest of his life. Did they ever wonder, like I do so often, "What have I gotten myself into?! Is this really, truly, the Lord's path for me in life?"
Whether Peter, James, and John ever wondered or not, I don't know. But the answer is loud and clear to me. At a difficult time when other disciples were abandoning Christ, the Savior asked Peter is they would leave, too. Peter's answer was simple, yet profound:
"Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life. And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the son of the living God (John 6:68-69)."
Jesus Christ, the son of the living God! It is that knowledge that keeps me striving to forsake all the Lord requires and follow him to the end of my days.
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