AVAILABLE

This morning, I was reading a little bit of Mathew 4 and the first disciple Jesus made. It seems like Jesus convinced 4 fishermen to follow him on the same day. Nonetheless, what caught my attention the most is found in verses 19 and 22. The calling was not only to follow him but to leave behind any sense of stability in their lives.

Verse 19: “And he said to them, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”

Verse 22: “And immediately they left their boat and their father and followed him.”

 I didn’t notice it at first, but after reading over and over again I realized that leaving the boat was pretty much leaving behind their financial stability. Now, hold up! Because this is not another writing implying that you should make a big offering so God can bless you… those types of messages give me the ick. What I want us to meditate on is the fact that these 4 guys immediately followed Jesus. Think about it! This random dude shows up at your door saying that if you follow him, he will make you an engineer just because he saw you replacing the light bulb on your front porch. If that happened to me, I’d probably laugh for a good minute and then I’d say… ARE YOU CRAZY?? My man, a little kid can replace a light bulb! Being an engineer requires much more knowledge than knowing which way is tighty and which is loosey. Plus, I don’t even like math! In all honesty sir, my best friend used to do my math homework in college. – that would probably be a bit too much information huh? However, these guys didn’t care that they only knew how to catch fish. They believed the words of this man named Jesus and took on an adventure. They went on to affect the course of history, their works have lasted for more than two thousand years, and it is because of them and some others that you and I get to have a closer view of what Jesus did when he was on earth. What blows my mind is that the scripture says that “immediately” they followed him. when I die, I’d love to invite Mr. Peter and the 3 courageous for a coffee… I just don’t understand how it didn’t cross their mind that technically fishing men is impossible. I am glad they didn’t think about it though because it shows us that to live the life Jesus wants for us we don’t have to be ready, we just have to be available.

I remember telling myself the following words when I entered ninth grade “Juan by accomplishing your dreams of playing in the NBA you are going to inspire many in your city to believe that dreams do become a reality.”   I didn’t make it to the NBA as you can tell, otherwise, I’d be doing some shooting drills with Curry instead of writing. Nonetheless, I did make it to the states and got to bring the first state championship to my school. Not too long ago my coach back home gave me a call and said “Juan there is this kid at our club and he is very talented, he is 13 and like you, he has the dream of going to the States. I’d love it if you could schedule a call with him… I believe you can give him some good guidance! Words can’t express the feelings I had while talking to this kid, it was like having my younger self sitting right in front of me. I offered him some encouraging words and gave him some advice. I couldn’t help but think about those words I had told myself back in ninth grade. The vision that had been placed in my heart years ago had become a reality, even if I didn’t make it to the NBA, and that is because I chose to say I am available to follow this dream.

Considering that I passed English 1301 with a “C” and that figuring out a better way to perform at things I didn’t like to do was at the bottom of my priority list, I never would’ve thought that at the age of twenty, I’d create my own website and write a blog.  However, when the time to take English 1302 came something shifted within me – no, God didn’t come downstairs to tell me he’d make me a writer… I was failing – Since I didn’t want to fail, I was forced to at least put some effort into the essays that were left for the semester, and to my surprise not only did I pass but I got a B. It was then that I found out that writing wasn’t as horrible as I thought, and that somehow, I enjoyed doing it. This realization led me to start writing a book about my experiences which later translated into TheKingdomsWay.com – which is the website you are on-. I never thought of myself as a writer, but I am sure God thought the opposite… You wouldn’t be reading this today if it wasn’t because 2 years ago, I said, “I am available to learn how to write better.”

Like these, I have many stories where I didn’t know what the outcome would be, but I still chose to believe in what had been placed in my heart. I forgot to tell you in the paragraph above, but I never had any contact with creating websites before creating this one. When I took the jump, the website was closed down 2 times and with it, I lost some money. However, I believed that God had a purpose for placing the desire in my heart to tell my story and the things I’ve been through. I don’t know where this is going! But I still choose to say I AM AVAILABLE.

Mr. Peter and the 4 courageous impacted way more lives than they would’ve had they stayed catching fish. All they had to do was take a leap of faith and believe the words Jesus was speaking over them. “I Will make you fishers of men.” What is it for you friend? what are those words that Jesus is speaking over you, but you have been feeling doubtful about? I believe there is a bigger purpose for your life and mine. All we have to do is leave the boat behind and trust that if Jesus is placing it in our hearts is because he already knows the outcome. Even when you feel like you are inadequate, Take the risk, make the call, live the dream, and don’t forget to tell God… I AM AVAILABLE.

Thank you for allowing me to be part of your story! Like I always say, if you feel like you want to talk to someone, please shoot me an email! I’d be more than happy to chat with you (you can find my email in the newsletter page). Remember! We are young and the decisions we make today will affect our future. I’ve found that there is a man who paved the way for us to live a meaningful life. His name is Jesus, and he is changing lives left and right… Get to know him.