Day 1 with Deitrich

So today I decided to begin a 40 day devotional based on Deitrich Bonhoeffer's Life Together. This is located on the Bible Gateway site and here is the link. Here are the Journal Questions for today: Journal Reflections To be a disciple is not just to believe in Jesus, it is to follow Jesus. In your journal, reflect on the ways in which you are presently following Jesus. Do you experience your discipleship as “joy”? Is the “burden” of your discipleship “light”? Do you sense there are places Jesus might want to lead you where you would rather not go? If so, where are they and what is holding you back? I find that I am currently following Jesus in simple ways. I serve in my church as an active participant. I teach Sunday School and volunteer when needed for things. I am also a dad and husband. This requires me to be present and love my family at all times. However, we are presently seeking God about an appointment as the pastor of a church in another town. It would mean a major move for us and taking us away from the familiar and more specifically from family. This is a harder decision to make than I was prepared for. Mainly I find it difficult because my father and mother are getting older. Relatively, they are not that old. He is in his late 60's and she is in her mid 60's. But, I have to admit that a part of me is torn. I am not sure which side of me is beign selfish. Is it selfish to want to be near family? Is it selfish to want to serve God and be away from them? Or is it selfless to want to serve others and be far away from family? I find that Kingdom principles require us to not hold onto the temporary. And, whether we believe it or not, our family is just temporary. If we are able to separate ourselves from the emotion and look at the eternal principle we can see that making the decision to live far away from those we love in the temporary has eternal reward. I mean, when we leave this world, if our loved ones are believers, we are looking at just the beginning of eternity to hang out with them. So, in a sense, I would rather NOT leave my parents here; but at the same time I would LOVE to be back in the Northeast,serving one of the two most unreached people groups of the U.S. A guess a good question would be, "What would Jesus do?" He would leave Capernium to "preach in the other villages". He would send Paul to Rome, John to Patmus, Thomas to India. He is always stretching us, rarely leaving us in one particular place where we gain false security. It is hard to discern, but I see a need. This is where faith meets the road of unsurity. So, I am stepping out by faith that He will stop us and not let us do anything outside of His will. Thy Kingdom Come, Thy WILL be Done!