8When Jesus saw the crowd around him, he gave orders to cross to the other side of the lake. 19Then a teacher of the law came to him and said, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.”
20Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”
21Another disciple said to him, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”
Thoughts: It is easy to say, "I will follow you wherever you go" in a moment of religious fervor or inspiration. At the last supper no one thought they would run away. Peter said all would run away but he would never deny him. We should make it our goal to not go away. The last line of the great hymn, "O Sacred Head Now Wounded" prays this prayer:"Lord let me never, ever, outlive my love for Thee." That should be our prayer and goal. It was not wrong of the man to say, "I'll follow you anywhere." It was also not wrong of Jesus to remind the man (and all of us listening in) that there is a tremendous cost to follow Christ.
The cost is to give up stuff- even homes. Jesus never had a home. He was forced to go to Bethlehem to be born- because of a taxation law. He was a refugee to Egypt when Herod tried to kill the babies. We must always hold onto our stuff knowing that this world is not our home. We follow someone as Lord who had no palace, no gold- no savings account, investments, pension.
The cost is also urgent. There is always, always an excuse to wait or choose later. But when Jesus prompts us, convicts us, urges us- we should respond and respond quickly. "Let the dead bury the dead" means "Let the spiritually dead bury the physically dead" there is other urgent work to be done. When the enemy is at the gates trying to break in- it is not time to bury the dead. When a fire needs to be put out- it is not time to bury the dead. When the opportunity to make a difference and change the world is before us- it is not time to bury the dead. The call of Christ is not secondary- not to be put on the back burner.
The cost is to give up stuff- even homes. Jesus never had a home. He was forced to go to Bethlehem to be born- because of a taxation law. He was a refugee to Egypt when Herod tried to kill the babies. We must always hold onto our stuff knowing that this world is not our home. We follow someone as Lord who had no palace, no gold- no savings account, investments, pension.
The cost is also urgent. There is always, always an excuse to wait or choose later. But when Jesus prompts us, convicts us, urges us- we should respond and respond quickly. "Let the dead bury the dead" means "Let the spiritually dead bury the physically dead" there is other urgent work to be done. When the enemy is at the gates trying to break in- it is not time to bury the dead. When a fire needs to be put out- it is not time to bury the dead. When the opportunity to make a difference and change the world is before us- it is not time to bury the dead. The call of Christ is not secondary- not to be put on the back burner.
Prayer: Lord, help me to see the importance and cost of following you. Keep me from taking the task and goal of following you lightly.
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