“Lord,” another of His disciples said, “first let me go bury my father.” But Jesus told him, “Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead.” Matthew 8:21-22 HCSB
Truth: Following Christ and knowing our God, this is most important, and also a blessing.
I find it interesting that the verses prior to this one had someone claiming that they’d follow Jesus wherever he’d go. And Jesus points out that he doesn’t have a place to lay his head. Jesus points out the comforts and securities one may have to sacrifice in order to follow him.
In today’s verse above Jesus takes it up another notch. This disciple’s concern is with people, namely his Father. “Let me go bury my Father first”, he says. It’s unclear if his Father is actually dead yet. But in any event we jumped from physical things and comforts to relational attachments. I like the fact that this disciple uses his own father. It seems reasonable, right? Some may be dealing with some relational or family issues that hinder their devotion, that appear reasonable. But it’s not. There is no family situation or relational situation that justifies making Jesus secondary. There is no family situation or relational situation that justifies making Jesus secondary. I meant to repeat that.
What if your devotion to Christ causes conflict within your family? Or even conflict with your kids? This is where everyone will be quick to give you their advice. But your devotion to Christ must trump human reasoning. God (not me) instructs us to walk in humility and pray to him continuously. If your walk is causing conflict you must be sure you are walking in those two things, humility and prayer, as you seek his presence and seek to be led by the Holy Spirit, and be sure you’re not walking to satisfy your own desires while calling it God’s will. Been there, done that, been forgiven of it too 🙌. Us men gotta watch out for that one.
Remember our example:
Even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. Mark 10:41-45
Are there certain comforts, security, or “things” that keep you from fully following Jesus? How about people? Are there certain people or relationships that hinder you from following Jesus? It often comes down to some desire within our own heart. These are the questions I’m working through as I meditate on this verse and the prior verse from yesterdays post.
If you have any thoughts, please share by commenting below.