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.”
Matthew 19:16-22
The Rich Young Man
16 Now a man came up to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?”
17 “Why do you ask me about what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, obey the commandments.”
18 “Which ones?” the man inquired.
Jesus replied, “‘Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, 19 honor your father and mother,’ and ‘love your neighbor as yourself.’”
20 “All these I have kept,” the young man said. “What do I still lack?”
21 Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
22 When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.
Matthew 6:19-24
Treasures in Heaven
19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light.23 But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
24 “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.
Luke 9:23-27
Taking Up the Cross
23 Then he said to them all: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. 24 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it. 25 What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self? 26 If anyone is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. 27 I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God."
John 10:10
The Abundant Life
10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
I like new things...And when birthdays and Christmas come around it is nice to get gifts...It is nice to get and buy things between these two annual dates where gifts are the norm for the day...And large material things are nice...And the home is a blessing for many people who own their own homes, and it is a nice thing to have...A new home was much in the back of my mind while working each day for the first twenty years of my career...A nice home is a comfortable place to go to after work, and after a long day...
Jesus was and is not much into material things...I am not sure that He had a home after He left His Mother Mary's house...He tells us that foxes had holes, but He does not a place on earth to lay His head...And He was a Carpenter, so He could have built one...But material things like homes, and money, and buying things that occupied His time is not who He is...And yet the home is very often called the American Dream, so most people want homes...The house is such an important part of the family life and much sentiment is in the homes people have and own...Yet, Jesus tells us He does not have a place to lay His head...A home, like we have, is not in the way He thinks...
I am not sure of this, but the four gospels do not mention He even owns anything materially, except the clothes and sandals He wore...And I do not think He had a lot of clothes even though He traveled around a lot...I would bet He had no wallet or money in His pockets...And there are reasons Jesus had no home and had no interest in material things...We know He was not rich and never thought about full life in terms of a richness in wealth...I think these things blocked His Spiritual view and interfered with His focus and thoughts of God...
Jesus did not seem to want gifts of material items and even a comfortable home, where He could go and sleep each night...Jesus traveled a lot during His ministry, so we know as a Man, He would have been tired as He traveled around to the different villages in Israel...But He wants Spiritual Gifts...His life was completely focused on God and heaven...He was not big on comfort, and the comfort material things could give Him...He found this Perfect Comfort in God...While He was on earth, He was always talking about God...And when He died for our sins, He ways ready to go back to heaven, where there is no focus on material things and wealth...
When we try to make houses and material things the treasures in our lives, we have to be careful...Material things can be obstacles...Jesus teaches us what it is to really lead a rich full life...It is to understand the proper treasures in life...When I look at Jesus, I never think of Him and relate Him to money -I think of Him as quite the opposite...Yet, His life was full of richness, because it is completely full of God...
C. S. Lewis said this of Jesus: “Give me all of you!!!...I don’t want so much of your time, so much of your talents and money, and so much of your work...I want YOU!!!...ALL OF YOU!!...I have not come to torment or frustrate the natural man or woman, but to KILL IT!...No half measures will do...I don’t want to only prune a branch here and a branch there; rather I want the whole tree out!...Hand it over to me, the whole outfit, all of your desires, all of your wants and wishes and dreams...Turn them ALL over to Me, give yourself to Me and I will make of you a new self---in My image...Give Me yourself and in exchange I will give you Myself. My will, shall become your will. My heart, shall become your heart.”...
When I read Lewis' comments about giving our all to Him...And then read what Jesus said in the Gospel of Luke, when He says "Then He said to them all: "If anyone would come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me...For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for Me will save it...What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self?...If anyone is ashamed of Me and My words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in His glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels...I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God."...It appears He wants us all, every bit of us...Our whole self...He is not looking for a casual friend and acquaintance...I am not sure Lewis' comments and Jesus' comments are encouraging...Lewis' comments are very interesting, and we know that Jesus' comments are the Truth...
If one would have ask Him about what a rich full life, He might have said a full life is following Him...Think more about your heavenly home...And a full life, is one completely focused on My Father...And I have come to be so that you may have life, and have it to the full...