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Following Him

Daily Devotional • October 21

Thomas Hart Benton, Planting (Spring Plowing) | 1939, lithograph on paper mounted on paperboard, Smithsonian American Art Museum

A Reading from Luke 9:51-62

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 prepare for his arrival, 53 but they did not receive him because his face was set toward Jerusalem. 54 When his disciples James and John saw this, 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 Then 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 And 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 And Jesus said to him, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”

 

Meditation

Jesus is fully aware of the fate that awaits him, but his disciples are slow to understand. Christ knows that rejection by the Samaritan village is only one of many rejections to come, but the disciples’ reaction reminds us that they’re still expecting a conqueror. It’s easy to follow someone we believe will use his overwhelming power to bring us political, financial, and spiritual victory – with ease. But Jesus rebukes His disciples. Following Jesus means following him into rejection, humiliation, suffering, pain, and ultimately death. And there’s no time to delay! 

Jesus says there isn’t time to wait for a parent to die (and mourn). There isn’t time to say goodbye. Making sure people know about the gift that Jesus is offering and working to make the world right is so important that we must be willing to drop everything, even if it brings social scandal upon us. It’s more loving to get busy bringing about Christ’s kingdom than anything else we could do. Sharing the gospel and bringing forth the kingdom are the best ways to honor our parents. They’re the best ways to care for our siblings, spouses, and children.

Yes, Jesus warns us that if we follow Him, many will not welcome us. If we follow, we must leave behind some we love who have chosen not to follow. If we follow, we must press forward in the difficult work and not look back.

Are there ways Jesus has been inviting you to follow him that are difficult but ultimately life-giving for you and those around you? How have you been resisting that invitation? What  small step could you take in that direction today?

 

 

Pieter Valk is a licensed professional counselor, the director of EQUIP, and cofounder of the Nashville Family of Brothers, an ecumenically Christian brotherhood for men called to vocational singleness.

Daily Devotional Cycle of Prayer
Today we pray for:

Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd, Maitland, Florida
The Diocese of Kansas – The Episcopal Church

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