JESUS,  I WILL FOLLOW YOU, BUT FIRST…

SCRIPTURE:

“As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” 58 Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”  59 He said to another man, “Follow me.” But he replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” 60 Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”  61 Still another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say goodbye to my family.”  62 Jesus replied, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”  (Luke 9:57—62)

OBSERVATION:

            There is a cost of following Jesus.  One must not think that following without counting the cost is a wise thing to do.  Following Christ does not guarantee a comfortable life.  It does not guaranteed I will have everything I want.  As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.”  Jesus gave him the answer that he did expect.  Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has NO place to lay his head. 

            In other words, we are not called to a life that guaranteed luxury of a home, or a place of comfort.  Jesus does not want anyone to follow him blindly or with false expectations and hope.  Jesus said, I HAVE NO PLACE TO LAY MY HEAD, do you still want to follow? 

            As they were walking, the first man SAID, I will follow you wherever you go.  But the other two, Jesus ASKED them, to Follow Me.  There are two kinds of followers, the ones that ask and desires to follow Jesus, and the ones that Jesus asked to follow him. 

            The first one was told what it means to follow Jesus.  There is no promise of security, luxury, or anything that he wishes.  Jesus presented the condition and the man has to decide whether he should follow Jesus or not.

            The other two, they were asked, but both individuals gave Jesus their conditions first before they decided to follow.  The first man’s condition was, LET ME GO AND BURY MY FATHER FIRST, THEN, I WILL FOLLOW YOU.

            The second individual said, I WILL FOLLOW YOU, LORD, BUT FIRST, LET ME GO BACK AND SAY GOODBYE TO MY FAMILY.  In essence, everyone of us have our BUT FIRST LET ME….do this first or do that first.  When Jesus calls us to follow, he lays the conditions.  There are no BUT’s OR IF’S. 

            When Jesus calls us, it’s a call of urgency.  It is a calling of trust whether I know everything else there is to know about what he call us to do.  It is a call to FOLLOW HIM FIRST and to trust him that he will take care of us and meet all our needs while we follow him. 

APPLICATION:

            I am challenged with this passage knowing that I often lay conditions before Jesus as I follow him.  I realized that I must abandoned and trust myself totally to his hands in order for me to truly follow him on his terms.  Following Christ is not about all my cares and what I need.  Following Christ is about me KNOWING HIM and how he leads me to fulfill his purposes.  I must be willing to trust Jesus fully and lay no conditions before him.  I am challenged to live this way daily. 

PRAYER:

            Jesus, your word is the light in my life.  As I follow you, I ask that you help me do away with the conditions that I set before I obey.  Help me to trust in you daily.  Help me to love you and obey you to do the things that you desire for me to do as I follow you.  Amen!