Summer Time!

As we are finishing up these finals and getting ready for summer, I have an encouragement for each of you on how to grow in the LORD over the summer! It appears to be easier to grow over the summer, since you'll have so much more time, but in my experience it's actually been more difficult...

Luke 9:57-62
⁵⁷As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go."

⁵⁸Jesus replied, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head."

⁵⁹He said to another man, "Follow me."
But the man replied, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father."

⁶⁰Jesus 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 good-by to my family."

⁶²Jesus replied, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God."

Wow! What a passage... we studied this passage in my IV Small Group, Candirú, last week... some of the thoughts have grown from a commentary at www.jesuswalk.com.

The first man approaches Jesus and says, "I will follow You wherever You go." Sounds legit, right? I mean, this has to be more than most people were saying as their first (recorded) words to Jesus! You would think Jesus' reply would have been to this effect: "great! Another follower! Praise the Father!" But no- Jesus saw this man's heart.

At first glance, Jesus' reply is a little harsh. "Foxes have holes and birds of the air..." He's basically calling this guy out and saying "you can't follow me", as He would later say to the Rich Young Ruler in chapter 18. The Bible doesn't explicitly say this, but from Jesus' answer it appears that this man was quite comfortable as long as he had a place "to lay his head"- the security of knowing that he could retire and rest up if necessary.

In 1 Peter 2:11-12, we are told that we are to live as "aliens and strangers" in this world, living such different ("good") lives that the people around us notice and praise the LORD! What is different about aliens and strangers? They have "no place to lay their head"...

This man's problem was that he was too COMFORTABLE. We, as followers of Jesus Christ, can never get "comfortable" where we are. Let me clarify: it's great to get a routine, especially when it involves getting up early and spending time with the LORD! But it's not great to be so stuck in that routine that you stop listening for the LORD's voice in your life and you become afraid of/against change. We must always be praying "LORD, what is Your will" and pursuing that, regardless of how "comfortable" we've become.

The second man is in a different situation, for Jesus CALLS this man, saying "Follow Me" (His initial command to the twelve). This is probably the phrase that has the most/deepest meaning contained in the shortest amount of words- "Follow Me".

The man's reply reveals a lot: "LORD, first let me go and bury my Father." What is often missed in this passage is that there's a good chance that the father wasn't even dead yet! Thanks to Luke Blackburn, of Candirú, for sharing a sermon he heard that explained the phrase "bury my Father" actually means (in the original language) "collect my inheritance". This man wanted to wait out his father's death so he could collect his money and then follow Jesus. For all we know, he could have wanted to give all of his inheritance to the poor! But this didn't concern Jesus.

When Jesus calls you, you MUST be ready to drop EVERYTHING (that should be dropped- ie, if God calls you to go to another country and you have a family, pray about it and after confirmation take your family with you- don't just drop them :-)). This man's problem was timing (as well as possessions), for when Jesus called him he wanted to wait...

For us, timing can be a big thing in the summer. I heard a few times this semester (and probably said it myself) "I'll begin doing that in the summer", and I can nearly guarantee that I'll hear "I'll start that when I return to a normal routine at school." Just as the man didn't want to follow immediately, so many of us hear the call of Jesus ("Follow Me") and say "Ok LORD! I'll do that... when I get back from vacation." NO! When the LORD calls us, after we've confirmed through prayer and petition that this is His will, we must act IMMEDIATELY. You don't know the "day or the hour" of His return (Matthew 24:42-44)!

Finally- candidate #3. He said "I will follow You, LORD, but first let me go back and say goodbye to my family." What?! A FAMILY man?! How great would this world be if more people were like him in his love for his family? He loved them so much that he wanted to tell them goodbye before embarking on this journey! This is probably the most puzzling, for you might say, "Come on, Jesus- let him go! He'll be back soon! If he loves his family so much, he's bound to love you too!" But this was the problem. His priorities weren't correct.

Matthew 10:37-38 say, ""Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me."

Jesus sees the man and his love for his family, but he also sees that this love for family is in the same stratosphere of his love for Jesus. This is the problem. Just a few chapters later, in 14, Jesus says this: ""If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple." (vs. 26) Are we to hate our family? Of course not! Just by flipping to the rest of the Bible you'll see that this is clearly not what Jesus is saying. He means "in comparison to your love for Me, your love for your family must be like a HATE." The third man's priorities were mixed up. How easy can our priorities get mixed up in the summer- even when something as great as family is the culprit!

When it comes to priorities, I think of it this way: Jesus is the number 1 priority, and number 2 is....... nothing. There should be NOTHING else on your "priorities" list. Jesus needs to be THE priority in our lives. When He becomes the priority, we will see everything around us in light of this and things like family will become more important in our lives. Because Jesus is the number 1 priority, we'll make more time for other relationships (and let the not-so-great ones fall away). We'll make more time for school (and let the wastes of time fade to gray). (Matthew 6:33)

So, in review, remember to never be comfortable where you are to the extent that you stop listening for the voice of the LORD and His will. We should get into a routine of spending time with the LORD daily, and each day we must be praying "LORD, how can I take up my cross for you today?" (Luke 9:23 calls us to do this daily) And when the LORD's voice is heard and confirmed, we must act immediately. The only reason I say "confirmed" is because I know I have been found to think something is from the LORD, but after talking to my Dad and praying about it a little bit I see that there are selfish ambitions under the surface (this can't happen- Philippians 2:3-4). And finally, make sure nothing comes even close to your relationship with Jesus this summer. There are plenty of things that will call upon (and beg of) your time, but don't give this excuse.

Make Jesus the priority in your life, everything else will be seen in light of this beautiful fact and God will be glorified to the maximum amount. Hallelujah!