The Cost
Luke 9:57–62 (ESV): The Cost of Following Jesus
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, let me first go and bury my father.” 60 And Jesus said to him, “Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” 61 Yet 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 his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”
Abba,
This is a startling statement. It sucker punches us in the gut and leaves one gasping for air.
“No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”
The call to follow you is an all or nothing call.
It is a call, like Jesus, to forsake this world as our home. “The Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.”
Jesus forsook an earthly dwelling, a earthy home in order to provide us with an eternal one that is of far greater worth and value. He chose to live as a sojourner on this earth in order to establish us with an eternal dwelling.
Too often, we claim attachments to this world that dim the glories of Your eternal kingdom in our sight. We grow enamored with the temporal. We stand in awe of a lesser glory and forget that the glories of this world cannot be compared to the one You still yet have in store for us.
We claim as home, that which you never intended.
Ever we feel it. This truth that this world is just not our home. There is a discontent, a longing that is never satisfied. But, oh do we ever try to satisfy it. We try to get comfortable and make this world our home, but we fail for it cannot be made so in its current state.
Abba, forgive us for allowing ourselves to become too comfortable in a world that we are passing through. Remind us of the call you have made to us.
The call to follow you is an “all in” type of call.
It is a call to forsake the cares of this life. “First, let me first go and bury my father…let me first say farewell to those at home.”
“No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”
No one; no thing ought to be so valuable to us that it stops us from pursuing after You. Not even our families.
Abba, we understand you don’t mean for us to be neglectful and irresponsible with caring for those you have placed in our lives. We get that. Other places you instruct us to care for those you have placed in our lives.
No, this statement, these verses speak to something else. They speak to an unwillingness to pursue after you because we don’t truly want to leave the things of this world.
Jesus, you told us that you came to set parent against child and child against sibling. You came to divide families and call us to choose YOU over one another. And at times, this is exactly what happens. Some chose to follow while others (of the same family) do not. It is a high cost to pay. Yet, at times, it is the cost you ask of us.
Are we willing to follow you at the cost of leaving behind loved ones who choose not to follow you?
Are we willing to abandon all to go where you ask? To do as you instruct? To pursue you over those attachments that we value in this life?
“No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”
No one who looks back….is fit for the kingdom of heaven.
Yes, it is a sucker punch indeed.
What cost are we willing to pay to follow you, Abba?
Because if we are not willing to pay it all…then we have not understood the nature of the call…and we have not been enraptured by the beauty of the one who calls us…and we are not fit for the kingdom.
Abba, make us fit.
Break the hold this world has upon us; a hold that prevents a fully devoted heart to follow you.
May nothing…nothing…prevent us from a total abandon and pursuit of You.
It is worth the cost. YOU are worth the cost. Even if it does cost us everyone and everything we love in this life.
Nothing compares to you.
We love You, Abba.
Amen.
Luke 9:57–62 (ESV): The Cost of Following Jesus
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, let me first go and bury my father.” 60 And Jesus said to him, “Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” 61 Yet 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 his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”
Abba,
This is a startling statement. It sucker punches us in the gut and leaves one gasping for air.
“No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”
The call to follow you is an all or nothing call.
It is a call, like Jesus, to forsake this world as our home. “The Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.”
Jesus forsook an earthly dwelling, a earthy home in order to provide us with an eternal one that is of far greater worth and value. He chose to live as a sojourner on this earth in order to establish us with an eternal dwelling.
Too often, we claim attachments to this world that dim the glories of Your eternal kingdom in our sight. We grow enamored with the temporal. We stand in awe of a lesser glory and forget that the glories of this world cannot be compared to the one You still yet have in store for us.
We claim as home, that which you never intended.
Ever we feel it. This truth that this world is just not our home. There is a discontent, a longing that is never satisfied. But, oh do we ever try to satisfy it. We try to get comfortable and make this world our home, but we fail for it cannot be made so in its current state.
Abba, forgive us for allowing ourselves to become too comfortable in a world that we are passing through. Remind us of the call you have made to us.
The call to follow you is an “all in” type of call.
It is a call to forsake the cares of this life. “First, let me first go and bury my father…let me first say farewell to those at home.”
“No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”
No one; no thing ought to be so valuable to us that it stops us from pursuing after You. Not even our families.
Abba, we understand you don’t mean for us to be neglectful and irresponsible with caring for those you have placed in our lives. We get that. Other places you instruct us to care for those you have placed in our lives.
No, this statement, these verses speak to something else. They speak to an unwillingness to pursue after you because we don’t truly want to leave the things of this world.
Jesus, you told us that you came to set parent against child and child against sibling. You came to divide families and call us to choose YOU over one another. And at times, this is exactly what happens. Some chose to follow while others (of the same family) do not. It is a high cost to pay. Yet, at times, it is the cost you ask of us.
Are we willing to follow you at the cost of leaving behind loved ones who choose not to follow you?
Are we willing to abandon all to go where you ask? To do as you instruct? To pursue you over those attachments that we value in this life?
“No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”
No one who looks back….is fit for the kingdom of heaven.
Yes, it is a sucker punch indeed.
What cost are we willing to pay to follow you, Abba?
Because if we are not willing to pay it all…then we have not understood the nature of the call…and we have not been enraptured by the beauty of the one who calls us…and we are not fit for the kingdom.
Abba, make us fit.
Break the hold this world has upon us; a hold that prevents a fully devoted heart to follow you.
May nothing…nothing…prevent us from a total abandon and pursuit of You.
It is worth the cost. YOU are worth the cost. Even if it does cost us everyone and everything we love in this life.
Nothing compares to you.
We love You, Abba.
Amen.
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