“At once they left their nets and followed him.” // Matthew 4:20
I tap my fingers along the steering wheel. A barrage of thoughts, plans, and to-do lists run incessantly through my mind. Spinning me out of the present moment. Enabling me to settle for avoidance, rather than contemplation.
The Lord is here, but I am not.
I am distracted and in a hurry. But then I hear the endearingly raspy and boisterous voice of my son. Glancing in the rearview mirror, I see him pointing out the window, gap-toothed smile on his face.
“Mommy look! The sky is so blue!”
This simple phrase halts everything. All the thoughts, plans, and lists evaporate from the forefront of my mind, and I look at the sky. I do not remember the last time I truly looked at God’s creation. The last time I reveled in the beauty that surrounds me. A vast blue miraculous sky.
“It is so blue and beautiful.”
My son nods enthusiastically, and, in his dazzling eyes, I see that his soul is light and free from the shadows of doubt and distraction. My little boy is present. He is a child, and he is delightful. I take a deep breath and pray, “Lord, You are here, and so am I.”
Sister, I am often tangled in the net of distraction. Struggling and impatient. And maybe you are too? But amid our fruitless wrestling with all the demands that we place on ourselves, Jesus simply looks at us with love and asks us to drop our nets.
He invites us to see.
He invites us to be.
He invites us to follow Him.