Luke 9:57-62
The Cost of Following Jesus
57 As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.”
58 Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”
59 He said to another man, “Follow me.”
But he replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”
60 Jesus 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 goodbye to my family.”
62 Jesus replied, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”
Luke 9:23-25
Cost of Following Jesus
23 Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. 24 For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it. 25 What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very self?
Matthew 10:32-42
Jesus' Teachings on Following Him
32"Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. 33But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven.
34"Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 For I have come to turn
" 'a man against his father,
a daughter against her mother,
a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law -
36a man's enemies will be the members of his own household.'
37"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; 38and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
40"He who receives you receives me, and he who receives me receives the one who sent me. 41Anyone who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet's reward, and anyone who receives a righteous man because he is a righteous man will receive a righteous man's reward. 42And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward."
Matthew 9:9-13
The Calling of Matthew
9As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector's booth. "Follow me," he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him.
10While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew's house, many tax collectors and "sinners" came and ate with him and his disciples. 11When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and 'sinners'?"
12On hearing this, Jesus said, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 13But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.' For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."
John 18:25-27
25 Meanwhile, Simon Peter was still standing there warming himself. So they asked him, “You aren’t one of his disciples too, are you?”
He denied it, saying, “I am not.”
John 20:24-29
Thomas Has Doubts About our LORD
24Now Thomas (called Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. 25So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord!"
But he said to them, "Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it."
26A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!" 27Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe."
28Thomas said to him, "My Lord and my God!"
29Then Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."
John 3:16-21
God's Love for Man
16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. 19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. 21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God.”
It is hard to follow Jesus -and His ways...He wants and asks us to deny ourselves...It is hard to deny ourselves of our next purchase, or the next new thing that we desire...It is hard to deny many of the comforts we have in life...Jesus wants us to give up the short term petty things and look to eternity...He teaches us to look to His Father for our basic needs and not the next new thing coming out...But that means giving up control...We have to give up what we think is important and the treasures of life on earth, and look to the treasures that will not rust, wear out and moths will not eat...
If we are able to follow Him on earth and acknowledge to others who He is -He even tells us that people will be put off by it...Some members of your own family, may get a little weary and tired if you want to talk to them about the Most Gifted and Important Man ever to walk the earth...Jesus says some who follow Him and acknowledge Him regularly will have problems...Talking about Him may turn a son against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law, because some will think He is not worthy to talk about on a regular basis...
Jesus does not want us to be lukewarm about Him...He wants us all of us...He wants one hundred percent of us...He wants us all lock, stock, and barrel...He wants us, absolutely and completely...He wants us to totally follow Him...Jesus does not want a part of us each day...He does not just want us one or two days a week...He wants us twenty four hours, seven days a week...He wants all of us, all the time...
When we realize that Jesus did not have a house, a means of transportation (other than foot), or material things to comfort Him -then we can get a better grasp on what He is telling us, and the difficulties we have in accepting Him along with that cost of following Him...Who of us want to give up our house, our cars, our big TVs, our toys, our I-Pods and Tablets?...Who of us want really to be His disciples and deny themselves and take up their cross daily without those great comforts in life that we expect and have worked hard for?...So, I think Christianity is hard...It is like the shrewd manager or great businessman...How can they be great if they don't spend the time and effort in their business?...It is like wanting or trying to be a great athlete without practicing...Following Him costs a lot...
He is the Perfect Man...He can do these things...We struggle with them...Many of us would like to have our glass of wine or beer on Saturday night, and then watch football on Sunday...I thank His Father, that He is full of grace and is Love...I thank Him being so forgiving of me...
Jesus teaches us the eternities...We must somehow through only His help learn to lay aside the thoughts and things of this world and pray that He helps us...He teaches us about His Father in heaven, and about the importance of our souls, which we often take for granted in life, and maybe even think little of...He even tells us what good is there in life if we get and have everything, but lose or forfeit our very soul, which is what goes and gets us into heaven...I thank Him all the time that He came to earth for sinners like me...I thank Him for loving the world as He does and coming not to condemn us but to save us...
I take heart in our Saints...Matthew, Peter, and Thomas are now Great Saints...Though these disciples were sinners, doubted Him, and denied Him -I love them...They give me much hope...I know they are in heaven with Him and His Father...And though they sinned, doubted, and denied -I need to read this, because I am much worse than our Great Saints...They give me much hope...Jesus gives me great hope...Again, I thank His Father for His forgiveness and for being so forgiving, for His Love, and for being so full of grace...