Wednesday 28 Sep 2022

September 28: Luke 9:57-62

Key Verse: Luke 9:62
Jesus replied, ‘No one who puts a hand to the plough and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.’

Devotion:
As Christians we should not take the task of following Jesus lightly; but we do so much of the time because we live in a very different world to what Jesus occupied during His life on earth in human form. This passage tells of the time when a couple of men came to Jesus and declared they would follow Him no matter what!

When Jesus turned and said “follow me” to another man, the man excused himself from following Jesus on the premise he had to go and bury his father. Jesus’ answer was to let the dead bury their own dead which sounds a bit strange! What Jesus was talking about was to let the unbelievers (the dead in Christ) bury the dead body because we have a task to go and tell people the gospel story.

When another man came and said he would follow Jesus but only after going and saying goodbye to the rest of the family, Jesus told him he would not be fit for the task if he was willing to turn his back on the task before it was started!

Both these stories should impress on us the importance of following through with what we say we will do for God. If we declare we are going to do something, we should be willing to go and do said task no matter what happens. Is this harsh? Well, no. Jesus did not turn His back on the task of going to face His death on the cross. When God told Him the time was right for Him to return to Jerusalem, Jesus went there without making excuses about what to do. Yes He did ask God if there was any other way, but His willingness to step forward no matter what is what counted!

Points to Ponder:
Has Christ asked you to step forward?

Are you going to stand firm on what He has asked you to do?