When Jesus saw the crowd around him, he gave orders to cross to the other side of the lake. Then a teacher of the law came to him and said, "Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go." Jesus replied, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head." -Matthew 8:18-20
The call to follow Jesus is not something to be taken lightly. Sadly, people often do fail to take seriously the call to follow Christ. The problem lies with the terms with which people try to follow the Lord. We are called to follow Christ on His terms, not ours. We make a costly mistake if we try to be a disciple of Jesus with an attitude that says, "I will follow, but only when I feel like it," or, "I will take upon myself His attitudes and compassion when it suits me." Following Christ is about dying to self, which is a drastic concept in today's self-centered culture. People believe that by placing themselves at the center of their lives that they discover who they are. Jesus turned that idea on its head when He invited people to die to self, take up the cross, and become His disciple. By dying to self and the way we were without Christ, we discover who we actually are as well as our purpose in the world.
The Scripture says that when a teacher of the law stated that he would be a follower of Jesus, the Lord reminded him of the plight of the true disciple. The earnest follower of Christ will learn to depend upon God for all his or her needs. The idea that following Jesus is a cushy and comfortable life is foreign to what the Lord taught. We may suffer persecution, family and friends may abandon us, the world will hate us, and we may end up suffering a martyr's death. However, Christ promised that in Him there is life: new life here and now, peace and joy, and eternal life one day in heaven. As we walk with the Lord we learn the true discipline of a life devoted to God. We learn of godly patience, endurance, peace in the more simpler things, and joy regardless of the problems we are facing. We discover the power of walking through life in spiritual victory rather than defeat.
Are we willing to follow Jesus where ever that may lead us? Such a commitment is to be taken with the utmost seriousness. We are called to follow, and then to become His witnesses - in our neighborhoods, our towns, our nation, and around the world. When the light of Christ is shining forth from our lives the world will see that light and will know that the love of Christ is functioning in us. The call has gone out. New life is waiting in Christ. Spiritual victory is available to all who will follow.
