My dog ate my homework. I had to eat that last piece of cake- it was shouting out my name. The traffic kept me from being here on time (mostly because I left with only one minute to spare). I had no money to buy gas. There are dozens of excuses for every task we are supposed to do. There is one task, however, which is a matter of life and death.
And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross (daily Luke 9:23), and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's, the same shall save it. Mark ,35
Believers of the Lord Jesus Christ are to deny themselves, take up their cross daily and follow (accompany) Him. We take pleasure in doing the easy things of Christianity like going to church, Bible study, fellowshipping, serving in areas we naturally enjoy, but will find excuses for doing the harder things like visiting the sick, sharing with the poor, helping the needy, actually studying the Bible, really loving our fellow believers (in our words to their faces and ‘behind their backs’ to others) and in our actions, and serving in areas God wants us to but we’re not so sure about. Jesus wanted people to follow Him not because He was arrogant or power hungry, but because He knew it was the only way to real life and eternal life with God. His desire was that all would be saved. (1Tim. 2:4; 2Pet. 3:9). Luke 9 records three men Jesus spoke to about following Him:
And it came to pass, that, as they went in the way, a certain man said unto him, Lord, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest. And Jesus said unto him, Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head. 57,58
And he said unto another, Follow me. But he said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God
And another also said, Lord, I will follow thee; but let me first go bid them farewell, which are at home at my house. And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God
Jesus told the first man (a scribe- Mat. 8) that the life of a follower wasn’t always comfortable or easy. A scribe would have been a learned man and well paid for his job. Giving that up to follow the Lord would have truly been a sacrifice many were not willing to make. We don’t even like giving up the comforts:
of our couch and TV to serve by scrubbing toilets,
of our Timmies or desserts to feed the hungry,
of our upstanding reputations to sit with the prostitutes and druggies,
of our new furniture or remodel to help fund the missionaries. (just some examples)
The next man, who was asked to follow, wanted to first go tend to his necessary errands. Isn’t it true that we can always find more things we HAVE to do before we will crack open our Bible to read, pray, to be in God’s presence, or to do His will. Excuses abound and we just ‘don’t have the time’!
The next man wanted to go say goodbye to his family and friends. We all have attachments to this life in friends, family, places (churches, work, school, towns…). These connections tie us to a place that doesn’t leave a whole lot of freedom in the area of following the Lord’s will. Sometimes it is difficult to completely serve the Lord while in our particular people circles, and other times it is difficult to move on when the Lord wants us to. (Abraham had to leave family and country)
Are we going to continue making excuses, or are we going to make a choice* to deny ourselves, and pick up our cross daily and follow Jesus. Following Jesus brings life and blessing. And following Jesus means you are never alone on your journey again, for He will accompany you all the way.
*I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live: That thou mayest love the LORD thy God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him: for he is thy life, and the length of thy days: Deut. 30:19,20a