Today I as reading a passage from Luke, 9:57-62. The picture is basically a picture of what seriously following Jesus looks like:
57 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.” Jesus replied, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”
This is really full passage, but I thought I would pull out just one idea that is not brilliant at all: being a disciple of Jesus will always cost us something.
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.” Jesus replied, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”
This is really full passage, but I thought I would pull out just one idea that is not brilliant at all: being a disciple of Jesus will always cost us something.
One example of cost is time (forget $$ or energy, time seems to be the most valuable thing). Being a disciple means we have to give time to following Him. Let me suggest that one of the most important places we give time is in weekly fellowship and worship. Hebrews 10:25 reminds us not to stop meeting with each other, but to value the time of community we have each week.
Here's the deal if you don't know - you can't come to church one Sunday a month or even two a month and expect to be a full part of the community of God. Save having to work on Sundays, we all need to be faithful on Sunday morning. Even those who work on Sundays can be a part by listening to teachings online and being a part of a small group. Let's be clear: working on Sundays are an exception to the rule in general. Most of us at BRCC don't work on Sunday.
What we do have on Sunday is a myriad of other things that we tend to think are more important - kid's sports, doing lawn work, etc. Now before you get worked up, I'm NOT talking about vacation. We all need a rest and sometime that means we miss Sunday mornings (I even miss a few each year - my hypocrisy has limits :). Vacations are a good and healthy thing and so is spending time with family. Commitment to something is not an issue
Do you consider fellowship and worship BEFORE you think about vacation and being gone on Sunday morning? What is the cost that you pay time-wise for being a follower of Jesus. "Redeem the time, for the days are evil" Ephesians 5
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