April 12-Follow Me

Deuteronomy 21-23

Psalm 44:17-26

Proverbs 11:1-3

Luke 9:37-62

“As they were walking along the road, 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.’ But 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 goodbye 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 9:57-6

Each of these men said they would follow Jesus, but when it came down to it they had an excuse. The first man said he would go wherever Jesus went. Jesus looked into his heart and responded by telling the man that following would mean that he would not have material wealth and he might not even have a place to lay his head at night. The second man asked to go bury his father. This seems reasonable, but if the man’s father had died, he would already be attending to the funeral arrangements. This man was most likely telling Jesus that he had family matters to attend to and when he finished taking care of all his other responsibilities, then he would follow Jesus. The third man wanted to go back and tell his family goodbye. Jesus looked into his heart and saw that the man had divided loyalties. Jesus told the man that he had to choose. He couldn’t follow Jesus if he was going to be constantly looking back to what he was leaving behind. What is your excuse? Is the cost of following Him too great? Do you want to wait until you have taken care of all of your other responsibilities before you give yourself fully to following Him? Do you have a divided heart? Jesus wants our wholehearted devotion. If we are to follow Him, we must be willing to do whatever He says, go wherever He leads, and trust Him completely.