Following Jesus

I’ve been reading through Mark recently. In an effort to make my quiet times more regular and not so much of a chore (I don’t believe spending time reading God’s word should ever become a chore) I’ve been using The Message paraphrase. It may not be fully accurate but it does capture the energy of the original text, which makes it an exciting experience and puts a different perspective on passages that have become familiar before being understood. Yesterday this passage struck me:

Calling the crowd to join his disciples, [Jesus] said, “Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You’re not in the driver’s seat; I am. Don’t run from suffering, embrace it. Follow me and I’ll show you how. Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to saving yourself, your true self. What good would it do to get everything you want and lose you, the real you? What could you ever trade your soul for?
(Mark 8:34-37, TM)

In Jesus’ time, with him physically standing there, saying “follow me” might not be so puzzling, but it seems a somewhat strange concept to me at times. It means being in constant contact with Jesus, communicating with him (both speaking and listening) and doing what he says. Sometimes the apparant legalism or religiousness of doing a regular quiet time gets me, but the goodness of having constant contact with Jesus outstrips that and I wonder why I don't spend every waking minute with him.