The "Hard Sayings of Jesus" (pt 2)

Last week I covered part of Luke 9 and I want to finish off the end of the chapter. Jesus is visited by three different people that are called and desire to follow him but have reservations about different cares of life. The first comes to Jesus and is told that if he follows Jesus he will have no home or comfortable place to dwell. The second has a funeral to attend before he would follow Jesus. The third has a job to finish before he will go. None of these 3 men are fit to follow Jesus in the way that He demands. Jesus demands reckless abandonment of anything that would hinder us from ministering. The disciples are called and they immediately drop everything they have to do follow Him. Christians often look at people in the examples of the Bible and comment that "I would do it differently if I were there". But this is the very pattern displayed by much of Christianity today. "Jesus, I will follow you but wait till I get my degree/get a wife/whatever else". Jesus has one thing to say to you "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the Kingdom of God". In other words: If you are worried about anything more than living for Christ you are of little worth. To follow Christ is going to demand everything from you, it will take all your time and resources. No wonder Paul said it is better for a minister to stay single. The demands of ministry and life will put enormous strain on a marriage. Jesus will not have it if you want to put off following Him for any reason. If that is your attitude then you will be useless in ministry when hard times come.