Matthew 8:18-22
18 When Jesus saw the crowd around him, he gave orders to cross to the other side of the lake. 19 Then a teacher of the law came to him and said, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.”
20 Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Manhas no place to lay his head.”
21 Another disciple said to him, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”
22 But Jesus told him, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead.”
http://www.jeremiahproject.com/culture/following_jesus.html says:
ReplyDeleteThe difficulty does not appear to be WHAT we know, but rather DOING what we know.
What keeps us from following Jesus wholeheartedly?
We want security: home, job, marriage, family.
We want personal pleasure and comfort: an easy life, no conflict, to get along with everyone (compromise).
We want earthly rewards: prosperity, popularity, friendships, leisure time.
Some follow only with 'conditions'. Jesus, however, wants complete loyalty with no conditions. Total dedication, not halfhearted commitment. We can't pick and choose among Jesus' ideas and follow him selectively. Jesus did not appoint us to be editors who select the portions of Jesus' teaching which we "think" are irrelevant.
This man said in Luke 9:57-62, he first wanted to bury his father. It's likely the father was not yet dead and the man wanted to wait until he died.
Our priorities do not place Jesus at the top.
Some have one foot in heaven and one foot in this life. They cannot let go of the things of this earth.
They say, "Let me take care of important family matters first."
"Let me take care of my financial situation first."
"Show me a miracle"
"Heal me."
We must be willing to abandon everything else that has given us security and not allow anything to distract us from the calling He has made in our lives.
Simon and Andrew left their sole livelihood, their job to respond to Jesus' call.
James and John left their job and their father to follow Jesus.
Levi, renamed Matthew by Jesus, gave up his job as a tax-collector which likely included great wealth and power.
Many today respond to Jesus with a lack of commitment. They believe with their mind, but not their heart. They are skeptical about who He is. They are not willing to give up themselves to follow him. They are willing to follow some of His commands, but not willing to sacrifice their own needs.
http://www.gotquestions.org/count-the-cost.html says:
ReplyDeleteEveryone loved the miracles, healing, and free food. Jesus was cool, the talk of the town, and the latest fad. But He knew their hearts. He knew they desired the benefits of what He did rather than an understanding of who He was. They loved His gifts, not the life He was calling them to. So He explained what it takes to be one of His followers:
“If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple."
Those who are following Jesus simply for what they can get won't stick around when the going gets tough. When God's way conflicts with our way, we will feel betrayed by the shallow, me-first faith we have bought into. If we have not counted the cost of being His child, we will turn away at the threat of sacrifice and find something else to gratify our selfish desires (cf. Mark 4:5, 16-17). In Jesus’ earthly ministry, there came a time when the free food stopped and public opinion turned ugly. The cheering crowds became jeering crowds. And Jesus knew ahead of time that would happen.
We cannot earn salvation by lifestyle change or any other good deed (Ephesians 2:8-9). But when we choose to follow Christ, we are releasing control of our lives. When Jesus is in control, pure living results (1 John 3:4-10; 2 Corinthians 5:17). In Jesus’ parable of the sower, it was only the soil that allowed the seed to put down roots and bear fruit that was called “good.” If we are going to be disciples of Christ, we must first count the cost of following Him.
My two cents:
ReplyDeleteI believe that Jesus is speaking to the hearts of these two people who say they want to follow Him. Jesus wants us to follow Him, but He makes it clear that we cannot have strings attached to anything else but Him. When we say to Jesus that we are ready to follow us, and if we have strings attached to other things that will make us unable to follow Him, Jesus will point them out. It's a mercy that He does so. Then, we can clearly make a choice.
By the way, once again there is a salvation message here. But this is more of a general principle. This same scenario happens throughout our Christian lives. Are we ready to go, or do we have some strings to cut? Because we can't go until we let go.
Once we cut our string and let go, many times God commands us to take care of our families. On the outside, things may not look differently. But on the inside, we are walking with God instead of walking our own path.