Moving
This week's bit of goodness is on Luke 9:57-62:
This week's been a fun week of reflection. In church on Sunday, the kids put on a fun presentation about putting God first, and then I've been reflecting on verses about discipleship and Christianity. These verses stood out for me as touching on both, so they're this week's goodness.
Jesus is walking with a guy, and the guy says to him, "I will follow you wherever you're going." Jesus talks to him about foxes and birds. Huh? Jesus is talking to us about the kingdom of God, and about the Christian life. We say to him "I want to go to heaven." And he answers "I am here now. If you don't want to be with me here, what good is heaven going to be for you?"
Christianity is a journey, not a destination. We don't sign up for heaven, read some magazines on the plane, and then arrive well-rested for an eternity in paradise. Christianity means saying to Jesus "I want to be with you," and meaning it. You're joining his posse, enduring hardships along the way, sometimes even getting tortured or killed, if you happen to live in those kind of places. You're choosing Jesus' company, not the place you hope you'll end up.
Jesus says to another guy, "Follow me." When we're called to be Christians, sometimes we don't get up and go with him. We want to do one more thing first. One more thing always ends up bringing another thing with it, and before too long there's no time for Jesus. The first thing should be Jesus.
People get all spiritual and try to say "everything should be Jesus." Well that's great, but it's also meaningless. If you say "Everything should be Jesus" chances are nothing will be Jesus because you don't understand the question well enough to address its practicalities: We live in time, and we live on earth. We need to eat and sleep and take care of business. As we pass through time, one thing will come before another. What Jesus is saying is "Do my thing first." What the guys arguing with Jesus are saying is "I will do your thing, but let me do my thing first." If you do your thing first, you will probably not have time for Jesus because another thing will come along.
If you know you need to say prayers every day, do them first thing in the morning or first thing before you go to bed. Same with reading the Bible, or singing worship songs, or whatever it is you do to connect with God. If you feel like you should be giving money to the church, or to missionaries or charity, do that first before you pay your bills and buy your cigarettes. If you do the valuable thing first, you don't have to worry about running out of money or time before you get to it. If it's not valuable enough to you to be the only guaranteed thing you'll do, how valuable is it?
So, to the guy who wanted to be a Christian and go to heaven, Jesus says that we have to keep on moving with him if we want to be Christians. It's not a one time vaccination against hell. And to the guys who wanted to clear out their inboxes and work down their to-do lists first, Jesus says that we have to move towards him or we'll drift away. "No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God." You have to look where you're going because you'll go where you're looking.
Are you willing to be a Christian today? If not, what makes you think you will want to tomorrow? Are you willing to make the things he wants you to do the next thing you do after reading this? If not, what makes you think you will find the time later?
As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.”
Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”
He said to another man, “Follow me.”
But he replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”
Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”
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 week's been a fun week of reflection. In church on Sunday, the kids put on a fun presentation about putting God first, and then I've been reflecting on verses about discipleship and Christianity. These verses stood out for me as touching on both, so they're this week's goodness.
Jesus is walking with a guy, and the guy says to him, "I will follow you wherever you're going." Jesus talks to him about foxes and birds. Huh? Jesus is talking to us about the kingdom of God, and about the Christian life. We say to him "I want to go to heaven." And he answers "I am here now. If you don't want to be with me here, what good is heaven going to be for you?"
Christianity is a journey, not a destination. We don't sign up for heaven, read some magazines on the plane, and then arrive well-rested for an eternity in paradise. Christianity means saying to Jesus "I want to be with you," and meaning it. You're joining his posse, enduring hardships along the way, sometimes even getting tortured or killed, if you happen to live in those kind of places. You're choosing Jesus' company, not the place you hope you'll end up.
Jesus says to another guy, "Follow me." When we're called to be Christians, sometimes we don't get up and go with him. We want to do one more thing first. One more thing always ends up bringing another thing with it, and before too long there's no time for Jesus. The first thing should be Jesus.
People get all spiritual and try to say "everything should be Jesus." Well that's great, but it's also meaningless. If you say "Everything should be Jesus" chances are nothing will be Jesus because you don't understand the question well enough to address its practicalities: We live in time, and we live on earth. We need to eat and sleep and take care of business. As we pass through time, one thing will come before another. What Jesus is saying is "Do my thing first." What the guys arguing with Jesus are saying is "I will do your thing, but let me do my thing first." If you do your thing first, you will probably not have time for Jesus because another thing will come along.
If you know you need to say prayers every day, do them first thing in the morning or first thing before you go to bed. Same with reading the Bible, or singing worship songs, or whatever it is you do to connect with God. If you feel like you should be giving money to the church, or to missionaries or charity, do that first before you pay your bills and buy your cigarettes. If you do the valuable thing first, you don't have to worry about running out of money or time before you get to it. If it's not valuable enough to you to be the only guaranteed thing you'll do, how valuable is it?
So, to the guy who wanted to be a Christian and go to heaven, Jesus says that we have to keep on moving with him if we want to be Christians. It's not a one time vaccination against hell. And to the guys who wanted to clear out their inboxes and work down their to-do lists first, Jesus says that we have to move towards him or we'll drift away. "No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God." You have to look where you're going because you'll go where you're looking.
Are you willing to be a Christian today? If not, what makes you think you will want to tomorrow? Are you willing to make the things he wants you to do the next thing you do after reading this? If not, what makes you think you will find the time later?
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