57)As they went on their way, a man said to Jesus, "I will follow you wherever you go." 58)Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes, and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lie down and rest." 59)He said to another man, "Follow me." But that man said, "Sir, first let me go back and bury my father." 60)Jesus answered, "Let the dead bury their own dead. You go and proclaim the Kingdom of God." 61)Someone else said, "I will follow you, sir; but first let me go and say good-bye to my family." 62)Jesus said to him, "Anyone who starts to plow and then keeps looking back is of no use for the Kingdom of God."
So these are kind of harsh words, but I don't think that it's an accident that they are in the Bible. The title in my Bible over these verses says: 'The Would-Be-Followers of Jesus.' So I meditated on this passage for a long time this weekend; 'what does he mean?' 'should I never go back to see my family?' 'should I live on the streets?' 'what does he mean by this?!' If I take it exactly as it is written, that would be what I would gather. But then I stepped back and tried to see the bigger meaning behind this.
In verse 58 maybe he his referring to a place to call 'home' that place that is so comfortable and that we want to make it really nice and we will live there for the rest of our lives raising our families; having our white picket fence, two cars--or three or four; a nice neighborhood; over and all--I think for us this is our status--how the world sees us. God doesn't want to fit into our status; He doesn't want to be a little extra perk, that makes us look better to the world because we attend church on Sunday mornings with our perfect little family.
Verse 59 I think maybe refers to our immediate plans or maybe longer term. God calls us and we always have an excuse. 'God, there's stuff that I have to do first, I'll just do that really quick and then I'll follow you.' Or maybe even, 'God I'm doing this and you're just going to have to give me something to do that will go along with my plans.' Jesus is quick to say that is not how it's going to be! He wants us all! He is an all-consuming fire and all-consuming fires don't leave anything uncharred. They burn everything in the way.
And then in verse 61, this other person wants to turn to their family/relationships before they follow God. And sure it's nice to have support of family in what we are doing for God, but ultimately whatever God has called us to is between us and Him. Not me and Him and my parents and my siblings and my grandparents and my best friends. If HE is calling me, I better follow because He is the one that I have to answer to. Friends and family love you--A LOT! And they want the best for you. They want you to have a happy, safe, comfortable little life. But sometimes God isn't safe or comfortable, but HE IS GOOD! He has this all worked out for our best use of our talents and gifts that He has given.
So, what if I said, 'I love you family and friends, but I need to serve God first'. What if I said, 'I have all these plans, but they're going out the window because HIS will comes first.' And what if I said, 'Safe, comfortable lives are nice, but I'm ready for the adventure that comes with following and serving the creator of the universe!'
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