PrayerBits for Sunday

PrayerBits

A bite sized devotional program
produced by the West Side Presbyterian Church

Sunday: Luke 9:51-62 Excuses, excuses

Time to Reflect: Jesus didn't just call the familiar 12 but many others. We have some of their excuses here. Verse 60 isn't as harsh as it sounds. In ancient custom, the oldest child was expected to hang around until both parents were dead, buried and properly mourned. So the person wasn't asking for a few days but potentially years. Jesus would have been long gone by the time this person was ready to serve.

Moving through the day: What excuses do you give for not following sacrificially?

Scripture:

Samaritan Opposition

 51As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem. 52And he sent messengers on ahead, who went into a Samaritan village to get things ready for him; 53but the people there did not welcome him, because he was heading for Jerusalem. 54When the disciples James and John saw this, they asked, "Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them[a]?" 55But Jesus turned and rebuked them, 56and[b] they went to another village.

The Cost of Following Jesus

 57As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go."

 58Jesus replied, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head."

 59He said to another man, "Follow me."
      But the man replied, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father."

 60Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God."

 61 Still another said, "I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say good-by to my family."

 62Jesus replied, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God."