The first thing that will keep you from following Jesus is preconceived notions about your future. The second thing that will keep you from following Jesus is:
2. Excuses in your present
He said to another man, “Follow me.”
But he replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”
Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead,
but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”
Luke 9:59-60
People more scholarly than I have suggested that this man’s father was not dead, but dying, so this request may have delayed him several years.
I can relate. I can always find something I need to do when I don’t want to do what I know I ought to do. “Lord, I’ll get right on that. But first, I have to change the cat litter, repaint the living room, train up the children in the way they should go, wax my eyebrows and read the entire Old Testament. Until then, I’m just not ready.”
I don’t have time. I’m afraid. I don’t have all the answers. I’m not spiritual enough. I’m not perfect. I’m not ready yet.
Jesus isn’t buying my excuses. “That’s trivial compared to what I’ve got planned. I’m asking you to proclaim the Gospel to your neighbors. What could possibly be more important?”
This word for proclaim means “to preach, signify or declare. To announce everywhere.” Yeah, everywhere. At home. At the grocery store. At work. In your neighborhood.
Sometimes my faith is like singing in the shower—it’s something I do alone, and I’d be embarrassed if anyone knew about it.
If it was just between me and God, what would my faith-life look like? When my spouse enters the room, does my conversation with God stop? Do my kids know about my King? Am I a different person before God when my co-workers sit down beside me? I’m not talking about making a show out of long prayers, ostentatious giving and pious fasting. But I wonder, do I become a different person when other people are around?
Jesus seems to believe I should announce Him everywhere, go about proclaiming His birth, death and resurrection as it happened in Israel 2,000 years ago—and as it happens in my own heart every day. My life should signify Him. Signify means to make known with a word or signal. The Gospel is the word. My life is the signal.
These images signify STOP:
Does my image signify JESUS?
When my neighbors see me, do they think, “Oh, there’s that woman who gave me a dirty look when my dog peed in her yard…” or do they remember, “She didn’t even get mad when my kids pulled her flowers. Isn’t she the one who has the neighborhood Bible study?” Am I known for my compassion? Or complaining? For generosity, or stinginess? Do I come out smelling like a rose, or do I make a big stink?
But thank God! He has made us his captives
and continues to lead us along in Christ’s triumphal procession.
Now he uses us to spread the knowledge of Christ everywhere,
like a sweet perfume.
Our lives are a Christ-like fragrance rising up to God.
But this fragrance is perceived differently by those
who are being saved and by those who are perishing.
To those who are perishing, we are a dreadful smell of death and doom.
But to those who are being saved, we are a life-giving perfume.
And who is adequate for such a task as this?
2 Corinthians 2:14-16 NLT
0 Comments