Luke 9:57 As they were going along the road, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.”
Luke 9:58 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.”
Luke 9:59 To another he said, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.”
Luke 9:60 And Jesus said to him, “Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”
Luke 9:61 Yet another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home.”
Luke 9:62 Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”
One of the popular teachings in the last twenty years in many church congregations is prosperity teaching. In a nation of plenty, we seek more. This has opened the door to many false teachers who teach that by giving money to them, then your wealth will increase. Many of these preachers have become very rich. Poverty is not necessarily a curse, nor is wealth always a blessing. To be a disciple of Jesus may bring persecution, even poverty, but the eternal reward is a prosperous soul with God. God's kingdom is without end.
The priority is to follow Jesus no matter what the cost. In this scriptural example Jesus had no place to call home. The homeless can identify with him, but who is willing to give up wealth to follow him? He was showing his disciples that following the will of God is most important. All over the world Christians are being persecuted and killed, but they did not quit following Jesus and their reward is eternal.
Another illustration is putting your hand to the plow. To plow a straight line the plow man fixes his eye on something, like a tree in the distance, to keep his plowing straight. We are to keep our eyes on Jesus without looking back. If we look back to the world our plowing is crooked. Anything that we put ahead of our love of God and Jesus, is a crooked plow line. We often fall short in our following of Jesus. His free gift of salvation through faith remains ours. Our walk requires his grace and mercy. Lord help us to be faithful to you and may we always have our needs met.
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