“And a scribe came up and said to Him, ‘Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go.’ 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.’ Another of the disciples said to Him, ‘Lord, let me first go and bury my father.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘Follow Me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead.'” Matthew 8:19-22
Devotional Thought For The Day
These are two examples of measured willingness to follow Jesus, and His response to each gives us some insight as to what is involved in being a disciple of Jesus and following Him. It is not that Jesus does not forgive His disciples when they err or prove unfaithful – at the time of His death and resurrection all of His disciples deserted Him, and all but the unbelieving one were restored to serve in His kingdom. But with these responses Jesus indicates to us the primacy and priority of our relationship with Him and our service to Him. The latter example especially seems forceful, that even family relationships are superseded by our devotion to Jesus and our duty within His kingdom. And for those of us living in America, the requirement to forego wealth for the sake of our relationship with Jesus also seems very forceful and heavy, contrary to the American dream inculcated into us from little on up.
Following Jesus may involve this kind of privation and devotion, but not always. Jesus did stay in people’s homes, and the disciples did have a treasury. Likewise, Jesus Himself went to Lazarus’ funeral – although He was late by four days [Jn. 11:39] and really had a different agenda than merely burying Him. So, disciples are not forbidden to have a home, or possessions, or even wealth – but these may have to be given up for the sake of following Jesus. Likewise, Jesus is not forbidding His followers to attend funerals, but rather indicating that there may be times when even our family obligations must be set aside in following and serving Him. So it is almost certain that Jesus knew more about what was within these two men than the text reveals, and that His instruction to them had greater specific application than general – although the principles do apply to us, that we are also called to be single-minded in our discipleship.
We then are also called to consider our own measured willingness to follow Jesus. We also set boundaries as to how far we will be pressed and pushed in following Jesus. For many those boundaries include things that are more important to them than even mere worship and Bible Study; if they were required by Jesus to attend these things [at every opportunity] they might decide not to follow Him, as many did in Jesus’ day. But of course, this is what He requires of us! Our boundaries may involve other priorities which we will not give up for the sake of the kingdom, or our duty within the kingdom – our offerings, our family obligations or family time, or certain menial tasks and chores around church, or suffering rejection and persecution; that if Jesus were to expect this from us [to give generously and with great self-sacrifice, to sacrifice our money, our time, our friends, and our safety] we might opt out of discipleship. But these are things which Jesus requires of us! So whatever the measures we have held onto in our relationship with Jesus and in our discipleship to Him, these are to be repented of and changed. His love for us is limitless, and He calls us to love Him and others in the same way [John 15:12].
Obviously, we are called to repentance and confession in regard to this, and called to give up our facade of total dedication to Jesus. He knows our hearts, all that we have retained as being of higher value than our relationship with Jesus and our service to His kingdom. I have met so many people within the church who act as if they are hyper-pious, as if there were no stronger Christians than they are, who claim total devotion to and love for Jesus, but who have a multitude of things that are more important to them than actually following Jesus and serving His kingdom. And I must say that this is nauseating. We must remember that Jesus freely and eagerly forgives us for our errors and weak faith and love, for our discipleship lapses; but He also warns that “unless we repent we will all likewise perish.” [Luke 13:3,5] We may as well get with it, for then we will be strengthened again in Jesus’ forgiveness and love. And this alone will finally move and compel us to greater devotion to Him, and toward an unmeasured and unrestrained discipleship. While this feels terribly uncomfortable to our sinful nature, it is Jesus’ will for us. God is love, so this kind of relationship with Jesus must be a great good and blessing for us. Why not give it a try?
Prayer For The Day
Dear Lord Jesus, thank You for Your great patience in loving me and forgiving me in spite of all the things that remain in my heart that I value and cherish even more than You. Free me from love of these temporal and worldly things, and increase my devotion, love, and commitment to You. Forbid that I ever allow anything to destroy my faith and love for You. Bless me to be the kind of disciple that You will for me to be, present where You are, and eager to do Your bidding. Amen.