June 25

“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 8:20

Many Christians today do not believe they are actually meant to be disciples of Christ. They have this idea that discipleship is the calling of those in full time ministry or on mission fields, or even people who spend a great deal of time in volunteer work. But Jesus said, “Go and make disciples of all nations…” (Matthew 28:19). Every Christian, whatever our occupation, is called to be a disciple. 

The first thing we need to understand is that discipleship is not about where we are going or what we are doing, but with whom we are going. To be a disciple of Jesus Christ is to be fully caught up in His program and to live by His agenda. Being a disciple is surrendering everything we are and everything we have for the purposes of Jesus Christ. His agenda is our priority, and this may or may not include tough circumstances, but the possibility is always present. 

When a teacher of the law came to Jesus 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’.” This is not giving any kind of virtue to homelessness, but tells us that discipleship may warrant relinquishing our own well-being and comfort in order to fulfill a divine agenda. Another man said to Jesus, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father,” and to him, Jesus replied, “Follow me and let the dead bury their own dead” (Matthew 8:21-22). The man almost certainly was not implying his father lay dead and was in need of burial, but that he needed to wait until his father had died, so he could be free of family obligations before becoming a disciple.

We cannot bring conditions into discipleship or place boundaries on our obedience and still regard it as true discipleship. Our first obligation is to Jesus and we leave the consequences of where that takes us to Him. We surrender exclusively to Jesus as the first call on our lives, and all other obligations and relationships will work their way out of that primary relationship we have with Jesus. This may sound hard, but we dare not tame the demands of Jesus. We work with the eternal in mind, regardless of consequences. To be a disciple does not exempt us from hardships, but rather equips us to live securely within them, and our security in Christ is the fundamental ingredient in the life of discipleship to which we are called.  

PRAYER: Dear Lord, help me to serve You well by always drawing my security from You, regardless of how difficult circumstances may be. Thank You, Lord. 

TO REFLECT UPON: Am I willing to surrender everything to Jesus for His purposes?