Dear Explorer,
Read Matthew 8:18-22
and
Read Luke 9:57-62
Matthew reports encounters with two men. Luke records encounters with 3 different men as they are on their journey. All three indicated that they wanted to follow Jesus, but….
What is Jesus' response to the first man?
In today's world, Jesus might say, “There are no guarantees of safety or security, salary or vacation benefits. It's not easy to follow me!”
What does the 2nd man want to do first?
Greek scholars think that what he meant was “I want to wait until my father dies and I inherit his wealth – then I'll follow you.” So, if that translation is correct, the man was saying, “I want to follow you later – but not yet.”
What was the 3rd man's decision (only listed in Luke)?
The implication is that all 3 men turned away and decided not to follow Jesus.
Luke 9:62 sums up these 3 encounters but what does it mean?
Where I grew up in Arkansas, cotton and soybeans were planted in ¼ mile long rows. My Daddy used a tractor with a planter behind it to plant 4 rows at a time. He followed a marker to try to keep his rows as straight as possible. Why? Because you get more crop produced per acre if you maximize the number of rows. If you have crooked rows or unevenly spaced ones, you waste space.
But before Daddy had a tractor, as a boy, he had to plow the rows one row at a time with a hand plow. The plow was pulled by a mule. Now, how straight do you think he would plow if he turned around and checked his work while he was walking forward and plowing?
If you looked back in the middle – there goes your straight row! It would have a big zigzag in it right where you turned back to look. Checking your rows was something you did when you were finished – not in the middle!
You can try this yourself by drawing a straight line down the middle of your paper – but turn and look behind you somewhere and see what your pencil does!
So, what is Jesus saying?
If you choose to follow Jesus – then do it. Get started right now, not later. Nothing should be more important. There are no vacations and no retirement. And don't try to evaluate how you are doing – just keep following day by day by day. At the end, we'll be able to see how we did – until then, let's keep our eyes on Jesus and keep plowing!
In His service, dale
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