Go! Go! Go with God!

The next time you watch a football game take your eyes off the backfield and the ball carriers for a few moments and watch the men on the line. A big part of the game is going on there, for without the line the backfield could not operate.

While the boys on the team that has the ball are trying to reach their goal the other team is not only trying to stop them, but to push them back as far as possible. And again, while the ball-carrying team is pushing forward, the defending line is not standing like a stone wall but is pushing against them. In other words, in a football game everyone is in motion. No one stands still.

All progress is motion. It begins with a forward thought and is carried out by forward action. Mark tells us that the disciples "went forth and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them ..." (Mark 16:20). That was the beginning of their ministry. Up until that time they had spent most of their time listening to Jesus and watching him work. Now they were to have a test on what they had learned. They were going to put into use what they had learned at Jesus' feet.

So, Mark tells us, they "went forth." As long as they were on the go, Christ promised to be with them. There was no time for backward glances or long periods of rest in Jesus' ministry. To stop moving forward would be to wither on the vine.

God does not "sit" with us, but he "goes" with us. God is life, and life is growth. We must constantly be moving forward. What we have done is not so important as what we are going to do.

I'll go where you want me to go, 0 Lord, and I know it must be forward if I expect you to go with me.