Spiritual Treasure
by Andy Dayton, Pastor at Shipshewana Church of the Nazarene
What Are We Waiting For?
O
ne afternoon after
Jesus had finished
a particularly good
sermon, the people
were inspired. The crowd was filing
out, shaking hands with THE Preacher,
telling him what a good sermon it
was. One after the other they filed by.
“Great sermon!” “Wow! I’ve never heard
it preached like that before!” “Thank
you for that message.”
Luke mentions three particular
people who were especially moved by
the message and each one pledged to
follow Jesus but “Lord, first let me go and
bury my father.” (Luke 9:59) “I will follow
you, Lord; but first let me go back and say
good-by to my family” (Luke 9:61).
The requests seem reasonable
enough. Most of us would have a few
loose ends to tie up before heading
off on such a journey. But, it’s not the
requests that attract our attention; it’s
Jesus’ responses.
“Foxes have holes and birds of the
air have nests, but the Son of Man has no
place to lay his head” (Luke 9:58). “Let
the dead bury their own dead, but you go
and proclaim the kingdom of God” (Luke
9:60). And then the finale, “No one who
puts his hand to the plow and looks back
is fit for service in the kingdom of God”
(Luke 9:62).
Understanding what Jesus is saying is difficult for us until we begin to
see ourselves in the story. Jesus is calling everyone of us to follow Him. Once
we hear His message, our response is to
declare, “I will follow You, Jesus!”
The problem is we have some of the
same excuses: “But first, let me go back
home and get some of my stuff for the
road.” “But first, let me finish school.”
“But first, let me do all the fun things
I’d like to do.” “But first ...”
The fact is, we are pretty good at
excuses, aren’t we? Jeremiah 29:11 records God saying: “‘For I know the plans
I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to
prosper you and not to harm you, plans to
give you hope and a future.’”
So, if we believe the Bible is truth,
we must also believe God’s plans are
for our good. So, why the hesitation?
Why the pre-follow “To Do List”?
Often, we get so caught up in the
here-and-now, that we forget the importance of the now-and-forever-more.
We need a wake-up-call, and that’s
exactly what Jesus’ responses are.
“This stuff isn’t worth going back
after.” “Don’t worry about what you
will eat or drink. Come follow Me.”
“You can’t follow Me and live for yourself at the same time.” “For whoever
wants to save his life will lose it, but
whoever loses his life for me will save it”
(Luke 9:24).
Don’t wait to follow Jesus. It won’t
be easier later. It won’t cost less if you
wait. The fact is, the sooner you start
following Jesus, the sooner you reap
the providence, protection, and blessing of walking in God’s perfect plan for
your life!
Cling to the stuff of Earth, and
you’ll end up empty handed. Let go,
and put your hand in the hand of
Jesus, and He will “never leave you nor
forsake you” (Deut. 31:6 & Heb. 13:5).
Our thanks to the local pastors for writing this column on a rotating schedule in return for a free listing for their church in our Hometown Church listing.
As such, views expressed in this column do not necessarily reflect that of The Hometown Treasure.
— Editor
Lehman, Hershberger & Co., P.C.
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