Last week we considered some of the people to whom Jesus said, ‘FOLLOW ME’. This week we will examine those who enthusiastically said that they would FOLLOW Him but had not thought through the consequences of doing so. Are we willing to follow Him today? If so, have we considered the cost of doing so?

On one occasion, a religious leader came to Jesus and said, ‘Teacher, I WILL FOLLOW YOU, wherever You go’, Matthew chapter 8 verse 19. Clearly, by calling Jesus, ‘Teacher’, this teacher of the Jewish religious Law gave Jesus great honour and respect, so much so that he expressed the desire to follow Him. He was, without doubt, sincere in his desire; indeed, most of his fellow teachers of the Law would never have dared to express such a desire. Nevertheless, he had little, or no, idea of what was involved in his final comment, ‘wherever You go’. He had not considered the cost involved in following Jesus.

More was called for than enthusiastic words, no matter how sincere he might have appeared to be. Jesus went on to tell him plainly the reality of true discipleship: ‘Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests but the Son of Man (Himself) has nowhere to lay His head’, Matthew chapter 8 verse 20. Discipleship is not a glamorous pathway, filled with the comforts that this world offers. It will involve hardship, perhaps even homelessness; indeed, animals and birds may well experience more comforts than disciples! It involves following in the footsteps of Jesus.

Horatius Bonar, the 19th century hymn writer, expressed it like this:

Go, labour on; spend and be spent. Your joy to do the Father’s will;
It is the way the Master went; should not the servant tread it still?