"Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go"

Scripture: Matthew 8:18-22

18 Now when Jesus saw great crowds around him, he gave orders to go over to the other side. 19 And a scribe came up and said to him, "Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go." 20 And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man has nowhere to lay his head." 21 Another of the disciples said to him, "Lord, let me first go and bury my father." 22 But Jesus said to him, "Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead."

Meditation: Have you ever been invited or drafted to do something special for an important cause that would cost you a great deal, such as leaving your home, occupation or studies in order to serve your country, church, or family? When the Lord Jesus began his mission he announced that God's kingdom was imminent - God was on the move to overthrow the kingdom of darkness and establish his kingdom of peace and justice. Jesus invited his hearers to join him as disciples on mission. Missionaries serve wherever they are sent. Most of Jesus' disciples served in their own homes, towns, and synagogues - until persecution scattered them to other places.


When the Lord Jesus calls us to follow him, he invites us into a personal relationship of love and friendship. That relationship also involves the commitment of our entire lives to Jesus as Lord and Master, Teacher and Healer, Messiah and Savior. To follow Jesus is the greatest of all calls. What an awesome privilege and an awesome responsibility to be a disciple of Jesus Christ! What does it cost to be a disciple? Our whole lives, for sure! Christ in turn gives us all that we need and more besides! Before we “sign-on” for something, is quite natural to ask what it will cost us. Jesus made sure that any “would-be” followers knew what they were getting themselves into. One prospective follower, a scribe, paid Jesus the highest compliment he knew. He called Jesus “teacher”. Scribes considered themselves the “teachers” and “experts” in the law of God.

Jesus advised this would-be follower: Before you follow me, think what you are doing and count the cost. A disciple must be willing to make sacrifices, even the sacrifice of his own life to follow Jesus as his Master and Lord. Another would-be disciple responded by saying that he must first bury his father, that is go back home and take care of his father until he died. Jesus appealed to the man’s heart and told him to detach himself from whatever might keep him from following as his disciple. Love sacrifices all for the beloved. It was love that compeled the Lord Jesus to lay down his life for us. Does the love of Christ compel you to give your all for the Lord? Let the Holy Spirit flood your heart with the love of God.

What can keep us from giving our all to God? Fear, self-concern, pre-occupation and attachment to other things. Even spiritual things can get in the way of having God alone as our Treasure if we put them first. Detachment is a necessary step is we want to make the Lord our Treasure and Joy. It frees us to give ourselves without reserve to the Lord and to his service. There is nothing greater we can do with our lives than to place them at the service of the Lord and Master of the universe. We cannot outgive God in generosity. Jesus promises that those who are willing to part with what is most dear to them for his sake “will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life” (Matthew 19:29). Is there anything holding you back from giving your all to the Lord?

"Take, O Lord, and receive my entire liberty, my memory, my understanding, and my whole will. All that I am and all that I possess you have given me. I surrender it all to you to be disposed of according to your will. Give me only your love and your grace — with these I will be rich enough and will desire nothing more.” (Prayer of Ignatius Loyola, 1491-1556)

Psalm 50:1-5, 23

1 The Mighty One, God the LORD, speaks and summons the earth from the rising of the sun to its setting.
2 Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God shines forth.
3 Our God comes, he does not keep silence, before him is a devouring fire, round about him a mighty tempest.
4 He calls to the heavens above and to the earth, that he may judge his people:
5 "Gather to me my faithful ones, who made a covenant with me by sacrifice!"
23 He who brings thanksgiving as his sacrifice honors me; to him who orders his way aright I will show the salvation of God!"