Good Morning Friends,
“A man said to him, ‘I will follow you wherever
you go.’ Jesus replied, ‘Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but
the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.’ He said to another man, ‘Follow
me.’ The man replied, ‘Lord, first let me go and bury my father.’ Jesus said to
him, ‘Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of
God.’ Still another said, ‘I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back
and say good-by to my family.’ Jesus replied, ‘No one who puts his hand to the
plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.’” (Luke 9:57-62)
Jesus presents hard situations in this story.
They strike at some of the most basic questions that are involved in following
Him.
Will you follow Jesus even if it is not
comfortable? Jesus did not offer a comfortable place to stay or an easy path
when He invited people to follow Him. Jesus’ own life was not comfortable and
His own path was not easy. Why should we expect what He calls us to will be
different from what He experienced? Jesus’ path led Him to a cross. Will you
follow Jesus even if the path He calls you to leads to a cross, too?
Will you follow Jesus even if it is not
convenient? The second man seemed to have a legitimate excuse for delaying a
decision to follow Jesus – he wanted to bury his father. Most scholars believe
the man’s father wasn’t even dead. The man was just asking Jesus for a more
convenient time to follow Him. There are many things that seem so important to
us – too important to interrupt – school, family, career, pleasures, etc. But
should anything be more important to us than following Jesus?
Will you continue to follow Jesus no matter what,
or will you turn aside for some reason? The decision to follow Jesus is a
lifetime decision. It’s not a decision to be picked up and set aside whenever we
want to. Make the decision and it should dominate the rest of your life. Does
your decision to follow Jesus still dominate your life?
The basic question Jesus was asking in this
story is … Are you serious about following Jesus … or are you just playing at
it?
His, by Grace, Steve
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