Will you come and follow me if I but call your name? Will you go where you don’t know and never be the same? Will you let my love be shown? Will you let my name be known, will you let my life be grown in you and you in me?

This weekend’s lectionary gospel reading is the call of the first disciples from the gospel of Mark. It is a reminder to us that Jesus is still calling us to come and follow.

Several years ago, I came across a hymn that poignantly explained the many different aspects of what it means to be called by God. So, during this short month before Lent begins, I am going to take the first four verses week by week to explore our calling.

The first begins reminding us that being called by God can be a shock to the system. It should be. When we choose to follow, it means that everything we have ever understood will never again return to the “normal” we once knew. Why? Because in allowing God’s love to shine through our lives and experiencing God’s own life growing within us, we will be irrevocably transformed.

Change is scary. Transformation and evolution, the same. We like remaining as we always have been in our thinking and being. Yet, the truth is that all of us have already been changing constantly. Whether we want to admit it or not, we are being transformed and evolving every moment of our lives.

The beauty of Christ’s call to us is that, though it leads us on a path unknown, God promises to be with us through whatever may come. The change, transformation, evolution we will experience will bring us closer to whom God has called us to be.

Though we cannot know precisely how our “called lives” will look, we can be sure of one thing: it will always look more loving.