The cost of following Jesus

In Matthew 8:18-22 says:

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."
Another disciple said to him, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father."
But Jesus told him, "Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead."

Let the dead bury their own dead. Wow, that seems so harsh! Not exactly the picture of Jesus as loving and welcoming that so many us imagine. But with Lent just around the corner (it starts Feb 25th), I think it's a helpful passage for us to ponder.

Often as we move deeper in our faith and relationship with God, we focus on the things we need to add or start doing. There are some obvious things that we should take on like being a part of a faith community, growing in our knowledge and understanding of God's word and God's activity in our midst.

But one of the things this passage reminds us, is that sometimes as disciples of Christ, we are called to give up certain things in order to be able to follow Jesus more closely. That may be something personal in your own live. It may be something that we as the community of faith need to stop doing so we have more time, energy, and resources, to devote to the new things God is calling us to do.

During Lent, many people decide to give something up. Often it's something like chocolate or candy, something relatively small that has little or nothing to do with our relationship with God. This year I would encourage you to ponder what God might be calling you to give up so that you may follow God more closely. Maybe it's watching one less hour of t.v. a week so you have time to spend volunteering somewhere, helping out a neighbor, or having quality time with your family. What is it that God is asking you to give up so that you may follow Jesus more closely?