Listen

Then Jesus said to someone else, “Follow me.”

He 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 spread the news of God’s kingdom.”

Luke 9:59-60

Think

“Why do today what can be put off until tomorrow?” What procrastinator hasn’t had that thought before? It always seems easier if we wait until tomorrow arrives.

Today’s passage is very confusing. Did Jesus really not want the man to bury his father? No, that’s not the point. It could be that Jesus wanted the man (and us) to understand how easy it is to get focused on today’s tasks and miss the bigger picture of tomorrow. There are plenty of worthwhile things we need to do. However, we can’t let the “now” hold us back from the future.

“I’ll worry about Jesus later when I’m older.” “I’ll focus on that later.”

Jesus says, “Come. Follow me.”

Now is the time!

Dale Tadlock

Pray

Jesus, I can get so busy at times that my faith gets ignored.

Help me to sense your presence today and to allow you to mold me today into the person you want me to be tomorrow.

Amen

Go

We are travelers on a journey
Fellow pilgrims on the road
We are here to help each other
walk the mile and bear the load.

I will hold the Christ light for you
in the nighttime of your fear;
I will hold my hand out to you,
speak the peace you long to hear.

Richard Gillard in “The Servant Song” (1977)