Stop Making Excuses

Jesus wants us to commit fully to The Father by committing our lives to following the Way which He taught us to live. We, as humans often do, find an excuse not to do what it is that needs to be done. Rather we do things we want to do or we do nothing at all and waste away. Luke 9:57-62 tells us about two such persons who desires to follow but makes an excuse.

As they were going along the road, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” 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.” To another he said, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” And Jesus said to him, “Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” Yet another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.” Luke 9:57-62

Taking Care of Mortal Things Before Following Christ

How often do we make the excuse that before we go somewhere or do something we have to take care of something else first? Sometime the thing can wait. Sometimes it really does not need done. Sometimes it is someone else’s job and you just want to be there to see it completed. The last one is the case in this man’s excuse.

Jewish burials were a two-step process. The body first goes into a cave and lays dormant until all that is left is the bones. The bones are then put into an ossuary and reburied in a family crypt. In the case of the man burying his father, the body has already been placed in the tomb and is decomposing. He probably just finished the time of mourning and wished to see the burial all the way through. There were people whom today we would call morticians who took care of the second part.

So when Jesus says, “Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”, He was saying that the man’s time is done and stop delaying what is required of him. To follow Jesus, everything else that is in the world no longer matters. Turning to God in full devotion is to stop focusing on things of the world and placing the whole self in the Hands of God. 

 Don’t Look Back

Why do we look back at our past when we turn towards God? The longer we wait to put God first, the harder it is not to look back and give up our foolish ways. In the case of the man wanting to say goodbye to His family Jesus replied, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.” One cannot keep looking back and still plow straight.

 He was not saying that the person would never see his family again. When we look back into what our lives were prior to knowing God, we have a tendency to miss our previous lives. What Jesus wanted the man to do was look ahead and focus on God so he would not stumble on the narrow path. Once ready, the man could return home to get his family and help them turn to God.

 The focus must be forward and not looking back. God does not want us to ask ourselves what might have been if I did this instead of that. If we focus on the might have been instead of where we are in God’s Hands, then we are easily influenced to falter. To proclaim the kingdom of God requires one’s full and urgent commitment. There is no place for what could be or might have in matters of the flesh when God is what matters most.

Our spiritual lives are more important in the grand scheme of thing than what we do in this life. How we are in our Spiritual life will help us maintain a healthier and more memorable physical life. If we focus on the physical, material life alone what reward is there for us in Heaven, we cannot have material things as a spiritual being. 

Brothers and Sisters, When we look back in Scripture and see the direction God desired for His people, we also see the guidance He gave. Following God’s Spiritual guidance in the mortal world is not that easy so God gave us a part of Himself which had already been on and in the earth but would now have physical form. God had a name for His Word that Saves us. He gave it to Isaiah, and to Mary and Joseph. The whole world knew of the God-man. We have Him in our hearts because that is where He needs to be. The Word is in us, all we have to do is listen and let the Holy Spirit guide us.

Turn Back to God and Give up your Foolish ways. There is no excuse not to.

Rob, Servant of God