The Cost of Following Jesus
57As they were walking along, someone said to Jesus, “I will follow you wherever you go.”
58But Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens to live in, and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place even to lay his head.”
59He said to another person, “Come, follow me.”
The man agreed, but he said, “Lord, first let me return home and bury my father.”
60But Jesus told him, “Let the spiritually dead bury their own dead!l Your duty is to go and preach about the Kingdom of God.”
61Another said, “Yes, Lord, I will follow you, but first let me say goodbye to my family.”
62But Jesus told him, “Anyone who puts a hand to the plow and then looks back is not fit for the Kingdom of God.”
These all seem to be such hard statements. Who doesn’t say goodbye to their family before going on a mission trip? Does following Jesus really mean not having a place to lay your head? What about burying your father? (some interpretations think this is a way of saying “wait till I get my inheritance”) So Lord, what are you saying to me?
I think Jesus is telling me that there is no “sitting on the fence”. If I want to follow him, I don’t have a “home” here on Earth. If I want to follow him, he comes ahead of everyone else, even my family. This is a hard thing so the Lord’s words are hard. We can’t take this commitment lightly. I see it a little like skydiving. Jesus is the parachute. Now go jump.
Lord, give me the courage to put you ahead of my family, my comfort, and everything else here on Earth.
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