Thought of the Day !!

Now when Jesus saw a crowd around him, he gave orders to go over to the other side. And a scribe came up and said to him, “Teacher, 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.” Another of the disciples said to him, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” And Jesus said to him, “Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead.” – Matthew 8:18-22 (ESV)

Wow…this doesn’t sound like the invitation or reply that we would give to someone seeking to come to our church does it?  We’d never tell people that they must drop everything right now and give up their luxuries and come to church prepared to leave out in any unknown direction doing only God knows what.  We’d be afraid they wouldn’t come.

Jesus makes it clear in this and other passages that being his follower is going to be different.  It would be harder than going along with the norm.  He made it clear that suffering would accompany it.  There would be less money in it instead of more.  There would be more serving and less being served.  But it would also come with so much more than this world could ever offer us.

Martin Luther once said, “A religion that gives nothing, costs nothing, and suffers nothing, is worth nothing.”  I believe that’s exactly how Jesus felt as well.

It’s not that salvation is difficult to obtain.  It’s actually very simple.  Come to Jesus.  But in following Jesus, we will be different from the world.  And it can be difficult taking the path less traveled (the right road) when others are taking the easy ones. 

Our Christian life is often times difficult.  But it’s never complicated.  Love Jesus.  Love each other.  In doing the more difficult, yet less complicated thing, we also will be rewarded with the greatest thing, a loving relationship with God our Father and Jesus our Lord.

In the love of Christ,

greg