Matthew Study 10:1

"... and when he had called his twelve..."

A person can be a Christian for a very long time until, one day, she is called into Discipleship.

In our pilgrimage to Heaven we experience many Conversions, Sacramental Gracing at varying times in our life. Truly the most important one, of course, is our initial Conversion to Jesus Christ, when we are able to trust his Lordship and experience is Saving Grace and Forgiveness of Sin. This happens when, by his wooing, we make the choice to follow him from our old lives and into his New Life. Therefore, if any person be in Christ, he is a new creation. Behold! All things have been made new. Welcome to the Outer Courts!

Yet there are numerous "min-Conversions" along the Way as well. Following the initial Conversion of New Life the single most important "mini-Conversion" is the Conversion to Discipleship. This is a biggie. It's a radical Call that completely strips the Christian of any other priority, save that of the Agenda of God.

Some never get there - it's that big. They simply plod along in their ho-hum spirituality, believing this is the Abundant Life Jesus talked about.

Others travel along with Jesus for - in this case - 10 Chapters (perhaps seasons?) until the issues in their hearts have melted and the Master sees them fit to be called into Discipleship. And as they respond, they are immediately endowed with the same Kingdom Wherewithal as Christ himself - power over unclean spirits, sickness and all kinds of disease. Now THAT is the Abundant Life! It's what you've dreamed of. It is the releasing of the Dream for which you were initially created.

The rub is, of course, is with regard to that which is - by virtue of the Higher Call to Discipleship - left behind. With each Conversion, a little more self is circumcised, and left behind. People tend to believe they can bring the old into the New; that they can moon-walk their way into the more luminous rooms of the Tent of Meeting.

But it doesn't work that way.

The way we go about transference  can be difficult or easy, depending entirely on where our heads are at.  We can obsess on the potential loss of the Call that we become self-crippling and go nowhere - or, in a decisive moment of Grace-filled choice -  swing around to fully face the New Horizon, with no anchors of regret. The choice is ours.

It is then when God will completely reward us, then when his Kingdom Power will finally take root in our hearts and behavior. Fear of man disappears, worry about what to say is alleviated by the spontaneous utterance of the Spirit through us, and the beams of Heaven dance across our brow for all to see. This is the Life worth leaving everything for.

Welcome to Chapter 10.