Follow at a Great Cost
Read the Text: Matthew 8
Memorize the Text: Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is abundant, but the workers are few. Therefore pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into the harvest.” (Matthew 9:37-38)
Consider the Text: Matthew 8:18-22
Easy-believism plagues Christianity in the West. There seems that minimization of responsibility occupies one's following of Jesus. We easily justify our disobedience and misuse the forgiveness offered by the Lord. We find ourselves following Jesus as an insurance policy and as a security blanket. We proclaim Jesus as Savior and Lord as long as the journey does not interfere with our desires or dreams. Such claimed Christianity is no Christianity at all. Two individuals in Matthew 8 approached Jesus about following him but desire to follow under their guidelines. We need to recognize the two warnings that appear concerning following Jesus.
First, we must be ready to ABANDON THIS WORLD. The first individual approached Jesus in Matthew 8:19 and declared his readiness to follow Jesus wherever Jesus led. The verbal declaration sounded tremendous and filled with faith. The man spoke amid a great crowd that had surrounded Jesus, and such a statement would flow from the emotion of the moment. The words ring with the sound of abandonment, but Jesus recognizes the truth.
Jesus responded to the offer with a counter. The counter sliced to the heart of the issue. Jesus pointed to the reality of following meant that the world could no longer be home. This was a declaration of the new affiliation. No longer could one following Jesus call this world home because their home must become the kingdom of Heaven. Jesus' response was not about the lack of a physical home but about the home of the heart and the believer's attitude.
Easy-believism tells us that we can follow Jesus and have all of this world. The issue is that such an approach would mean that we would live in a manner of having a future home in Christ and a current home in the world. The truth from Jesus means that genuine faith differs from easy-believism because such a faith demands the abandonment of this world and the acceptance of living under the banner of God's kingdom.
Second, we must be ready to ACCEPT JESUS ON HIS TERMS. A second man approached Jesus and stated his desire to follow Jesus. The issue comes when the individual adds qualifications to his commitment. In Matthew 8:21, the man provided the qualification of first burying his father. This request does not seem that brazen, but the man's father might have still been living, which meant his request was a delay in obedience and making sure that his life was secure on earthly terms first. He wanted to follow Jesus but only if Jesus would accept him on the stated terms.
The response of Jesus affirmed the previous answer about abandoning the securities of this world and expanded it to reveal that people don't set the terms to following Jesus. The words of Jesus indicate that to follow the man needed to not worry about the securities of this world but let the securities according to the world concern themselves. Jesus is not telling him to neglect the future, but he is calling him to follow Jesus properly.
The world around us tempts us to put restrictions on following Jesus. These restraints keep us from following Jesus faithfully because they draw our attention to other priorities. To follow obediently, we need to be ready to accept Jesus on his terms. The temptation comes when we try to lower Jesus to our ways instead of abandoning our ways and living according to his.
These two interactions with Jesus ought to warn us and cause us to reflect on our own following of Jesus. Do we fall prey to the temptation of easy-believism? Have we followed Jesus on his terms, or have we attempted to form our own guidelines to following? Are we ready to abandon the ways of the world for the ways of the Lord? The cost of following Jesus is great, but the reward of following him is far greater.
This blog is part of the Coffee and Quiet Time with Jesus Devotional Series found at equippingfaith.com. Join the journey of reading through the New Testament this year. More information can be found at equippingfaith.com.
