Luke 9:57-60

Now it happened as they journeyed on the road, that someone said to Him, “Lord, I will follow You wherever You go.” 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.” Then He said to another, “Follow Me.” But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of God.”

Luke 9:57-60

In Luke 9, we are given a series of encounters between Jesus and various individuals who profess a desire or commitment to follow Jesus anywhere, before finding an excuse to delay following at all. The excuse here is needing to go to a funeral for his father, a needful action if his father had died. It appears from Jesus’ words that this was a request to stay at home until his father died and then follow as He promised, a request to delay His commitment.

Jesus’ words in response are powerful, saying in essence, let the world deal with worldly issues, BUT you go and preach the kingdom of God, the Gospel, that Jesus has come to save and rule in the hearts of those who would look to Him. So to us Jesus would say: don’t allow your time and life to be consumed with worldly pursuits, you have a calling to reach the Kingdom of God! Don’t delay or find a reasonable excuse to delay His call to share our faith now!

No delays!

Pastor Jack Abeelen