From Luke 9: 51 When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem. 52 And he sent messengers ahead of him. On their way they entered a village of the Samaritans to make ready for him; 53 but they did not receive him, because his face was set toward Jerusalem. 54When his disciples James and John saw it, they said, "Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?" 55 But he turned and rebuked them. 56 The they went on to another village. 57 As they were going along the road, someone said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go." 58 And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head." 59 To another he said, "Follow me." But he said, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father." 60 But Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God." 61 Another said, "I will follow you, Lord; but let me first say farewell to those at my home." 62 Jesus said to him, "No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God."
"If only I had..." We've had thoughts like that of missed opportunities, previous career choices, offers, etc. Sometimes we get sad thinking that had we just done that instead of this, we'd be better off. Such was the case with three who encountered Jesus and thought about serving alongside Him. It starts in an unfriendly region; people did not "receive" Jesus and the disciples wanted to call a bolt of lightning to come from the sky to destroy this village. Which is another devotional, not today's... But a man comes to Jesus and offers, "I will follow You wherever You go." This man understood the itinerant system and was willing to follow it in order to serve Jesus, but Jesus shares the reality of the journey. The modern versions says, "Are you ready to rough it? We're not staying in the best inns, you know." Jesus implies that even if Bob Bodett left the light on, they wouldn't be seeing it. To follow Jesus means sometimes having to sacrifice comfort and luxury.
Another man is approached by Jesus and Jesus says to him, "Follow me." This time it was Jesus offering an invitation. The man responds, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father." He was perhaps saying he had many obligations to his dad and until they were fulfilled he could not leave home. Jesus' reply is that His mission is about life not death and it is an urgent one in which followers must be about Jesus' business now, not later.
A third man offers to follow Jesus, "I will follow You, Lord; but first let me go back and say goodbye to my family." He was ready, except he wanted to say his goodbyes to his loved ones. Sometimes that takes a while. Jesus' response was "No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God." Kingdom business is serious business and it requires immediate attention, focused concentration on what is ahead not behind.
We can play the different games of why we're not ready to follow Jesus; we want the best for ourselves, comfort and luxury, bigger and better appointments or committee responsibilities, this or that - Jesus is looking for those who put God first, then themselves. We can also play the fulfillment obligation game; I have so much to do right now in my life that I couldn't possibly go now. I had a plan for myself and I've not yet completed it. I want to have fun now and do this and that, maybe later... - Jesus is looking for those who love God enough to go when called. It was no accident that Jesus said whoever left father or mother or lands, etc. would soon receive a hundredfold of whatever was sacrificed for Him. We can also play the my time with family is important to me right now and I have to say goodbye to them first; I'll catch up with You a bit later. Jesus is looking for forward-looking kingdom people; those who set their eyes and the work ahead and are ready now to do it, not later.
Jesus needs you now.
PRAYER: Loving God, I'm ready. Send me and put me to whatever helps Your kingdom. In Jesus' name I pray, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
Eradio Valverde
