Mark 1:14 Now after John had been taken into custody, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, 15 and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”

 16 As He was going along by the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and Andrew, the brother of Simon, casting a net in the sea; for they were fishermen.  17 And Jesus said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men.”  18 Immediately they left their nets and followed Him.  19 Going on a little farther, He saw James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, who were also in the boat mending the nets.  20 Immediately He called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants, and went away to follow Him.

A companion Scripture was Revelation 3:20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.

Every believer has been called by God. Through the human life, horrible death, and amazing resurrection of Jesus, we have access to eternal life in addition to the wonderful, joy-filled life we can have on earth. (Note that joy is not equal to happiness. Some of my most joyful times have been the periods of the greatest stress and uncertainty, as I laid my burdens on the Savior and enjoyed His rest.) Along with salvation, we have been given specific gifts to enable us for lives of service – service not to earn salvation, that was free, but service in order to honor and obey the Master’s call.

Consider it this way: if I were to refuse Jesus’ call to service, what effect would it have on my health? I do not believe that in this present age, there is a linkage between service and wellness. But I do expect that avoiding such service would have a tendency to affect one’s health negatively. Those I know who have fled God’s call to duty have carried a burden that made their life difficult. We could learn a valuable lesson from Jonah!

On the other hand, obeying God’s call does not guarantee bodily health. It does support spiritual health, and that is more important than bodily health. Even though my body should fail entirely and I should cling to life by a thread, my obedient life in the Savior would be the greatest possible joy. Study the lives of some of the many faithful Saints to see examples of how joy thrives in adversity.

To borrow a line from Ann Voskamp, “And the way to be more obedient to Christ is to be more intimate with Christ.” See her blog for January 24, 2012 at http://www.aholyexperience.com/ for the rest of the story.