Matthew 10:1
And when he had called unto him his twelve disciples, he gave them power against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease.

Jesus was going to send out His disciples to do some important work—to preach and heal and cast out devils, but first He calls them unto Himself.  They must first go to Him because He is the source of what they will need when they go out.  He takes the time to teach them some important lessons, to explain what they will face, to help them understand this mission they are on.  And then He fills them with the power they will need to be able to accomplish all that He sends them out to do.

Jesus wants us to go forth into the work, but first He calls us unto Himself.  We have to spend some time at our Master’s feet learning of Him and learning from Him.  We have to gain some understanding of what He is asking of us, what we can expect, and how we’ll overcome.  We have to be filled with power from Jesus in order to accomplish what He wants us to do for Him, to answer His calling for each of us.

But then we have to be willing to go out and answer that call, to fulfill His purpose and will in our lives.  Perhaps the disciples were nervous to go out apart from Jesus and do these things they were used to seeing Him do.  Maybe they felt inadequate to do such a thing when they were just fishermen or tax collectors.  Surely it’s a common thing to feel like we are not up to the task when Jesus asks us to do something for Him.  But we can trust Him enough to obey when we understand that we go out with His blessing and His power upon us.

Our relationship with Jesus must be at the center of anything that we do for Him.  We must come to Him time and time again for wisdom, for help, to continue growing and learning and becoming all that He wants us to be.  He can refill us when we get depleted from our time serving Him out in the world.  And when we are able to accomplish what He sends us forth into, we can return rejoicing that we were able to serve our Lord and honor Him by our service.