Luke 9:57-62
As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, "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." He said to another man, "Follow me." But the man replied, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father." Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God." Still another said, "I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say good-by to my family." Jesus replied, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God."
The passage above is the most misunderstood passage in the New Testament. This whole passage is about "following Christ till the end". Many will not do this. Rebellion towards the LORD or stubborness in sin, selfishness, worldliness, lust, greed and covetousness may become some of the reasons why one would not follow Christ till the end. In short, those who live according to the desires and passions of the sinful nature of the Devil in them would not want to follow Christ. There is a price to pay for following Him till the end. "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head", do you still want to follow me, the Lord Jesus asked. "Let the dead bury the dead"? Who are the first and second "dead"? Both have something in common and what was similar to them both? The first example by the LORD here suggests that the first thing you must do to follow Christ is to identify yourself with His sufferings. But, thats not what many would want to do today. The sufferings of Christ were there because this world was not His own. This kingdom was not His own. It was the kingdom of darkness. He did not ever mistake it for the kingdom of righteousness of the LORD. He knew the difference between the two and did not attempt to mix the both up to suit His own convenience on Earth. He knew what is the kingdom of God and and never was confused between what was God's and the Devil's.
What was common between both the "dead"? For both, their consciences were "dead". For them, following Christ is a non-happening thing in their lives. Their conscience were equally dead. Let those whose conscience is dead even after being told and warned many times, go and identify themselves with those who also have a dead conscience. They can never learn the difference between the kingdom of righteousness and darkness. They have decided in their hearts to pursue darkness and never the light. Still another said to the Lord Jesus, " I will follow you" but He said "wait, I still have to please my feelings first". Imagine a dead conscience trying to follow the living God. Is that possible unless he or she is quickened to life first? What confusion does that bring to everyone?
So we see the three different choices given to everyone.
1) Choose to identify yourself with the sinful nature of the Devil in you or the divine nature of
Christ.
2) Choose to be dead in your conscience by continually obeying the sinful nature of the Devil in you
or choose to obey eveything Christ had commanded and live forever with His nature formed in
you?
3) Choose to please yourself or Christ?
Identify, obey and please. Think about these three of your actions deeply. Who do you choose, Jesus Christ our Lord or the Devil.? The decision is still yours. The eternal consequence of your sins is still yours too. You shouldn't choose to identify yourself with the world and try to obey Christ at the same time. That may confuse everyone around you. You shouldn't choose to obey Christ and yet please yourself at the same time? All three of your actions must be directed resolutely towards following Him till the end. Are you ready for this? Many are not. Many choose the "road that leads to destruction" instead.
Matthew 7: 13-14
"Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.
