Luke 9:57-62

May 6, 2012 Luke 9:57-62 57 As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go." 58 Jesus replied, "Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head." 59 He said to another man, "Follow me." But he replied, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father." 60 Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God." 61 Still another said, "I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say goodbye to my family." 62 Jesus replied, "No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God." Jesus has given us many life lessons, today we will look in detail about what He has taught us. He says that no one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service. Einstein once said that work that requires six hours can be achieved in 30 minutes if they are focused. Also, work that requires 30 minutes cannot be completed in six hours if you do not commit and are not focused. Edison also said that when you are focused on one thing then you too can achieve success. Are we focused on the following Jesus? Are we focused on the bible? When we see those who are successful in life we see that these people a following the lessons that Jesus has taught. Why did Jesus teach in parables? In the parables are the secrets to life. If we would listen and follow then we too, would be victorious in our lives. If I were to be in Christ and Christ in me then I would be a successful Christian. It is not this way and that is why we fail. We fail because instead of being in Christ, we instead go ahead of Christ and look back at him once in a while. When we take a plant or a tree and uproot it and move it to another location, the tree does not bear fruit immediately as if it had not been moved. In your spiritual life, when you go from non belief to a follower of Christ, do you think that you can bear fruit easily? Just because you fertilize your plants does it mean that suddenly everything will grow beautifully? It may not be so. You can harm the process of growth if you are not careful. Going from a life of nonbeliever to belief is not easy. You may say that you have believed Christ your entire life since childhood, but have you ever come to the point where you realize that all that you believe must now be put into action? Have you ever considered that the lessons you have learned all these years must start to bear fruit in your life? Even if you could not put into practice all these lessons, could you put into practice one lesson whole heartedly? Are you willing to suffer the pain that comes with transitioning simple belief into action? Just as a plant will suffer from being moved are you willing to suffer to grow? Just as it takes effort and pain to discipline the body to become stronger, it takes discipline and effort to follow Christ. If you know that you are the Cild of Christ and that He has saved you form your sins then the life you live must reflect that belief. You must Iive out your faith. Their are certain guidelines that the bible has set for us to follow to live the life of faith. Of you want to be a doctor or lawyer you must meet the requirements and pass the exams to be one. Is it any different for following Christ? Christ desires to use you to glorify him, but are you living the life that brings him glory? Are you following the guidelines that he has set for you to follow? If your earthly father wants you to be a certain way, but you are rebellious to him, will people think that you are the child of your father? As a plant suffer to survive again once it is moved, we too must suffer but we refuse to do so. The amount of discipline and suffering I am willing to suffer will dictate the amount of success or failure one will attain as a believer. To live a life as a believer is frustrating in the beginning. It is not easy. But because of the frustration if I do not persevere, then I am only uprooting myself again, putting myself in harms way, making it more difficult for me to be grounded and rooted ithe place I should, because of my lack of discipline and patience. Is salvation something that is attained just because I have confessed that I am saved, or is it because I have attained a position in the church? When I say that I am saved I am confessing that I have a new Master. Has your life been filled with the suffering that comes with following your new Master? Or are you here still after years of coming to church only out of habit and bearing no fruit of belief? I am told to love my wife, but instead of loving my wife I complain. Does Jesus count that to my credit as belief? It does not matter what all 7 billion people on earth believe, if Jesus says it is so', then it is, and if he says it is not so, then it is not. In a business or company, the manager tells the emplyee what to do. If he tells you to buy and sell something youare not the one too say yes or no, youare only to do as you are told to do. If Jesus is the manager of your lfe and he tells you to love, but instead of loving you say you cannot, then what do you think will happen to you? Is this not the kind of life you live? Instead of doing you tell the manager of your life what you can and cannot do. You do not live the life of faith. You live according to your own thoughts and desires. Plowing a field is very difficult. It takes much strength and skill for the plowman to do this task. One must be aware of the direction of the cow and the depth of the plow. It is not a simple task. It is said that once you have mastered the plow then you have acquired the skills of a farmer. Why did Jesus compare the life of faith with plowing the field? It is because when you plow the field you are preparing it for a new harvest. That means you are preparing yourself to change a live a new life. You cannot lie this live plowing deeper in one area and less somewhere else. You cannot plow a field going straight in someplaces and crooked in others. If you desir to follow Christ then you must first plow the field of your soul and make the path straight. If you do not put all your strength into doing this then Jesus tells us that you will not be able to enter into the kingdom. Jesus taught us how to pray, in which we say 'hallowed be thy name', but what does this mean? In order to bless the name of God, the one who is blessing it must be holy to bless the name of God. It means whe we pray we ar confessing to God that we a going to live a life that is holy. If I say this prayer then I must live the life. When a woman said that blessed is the woman who raised him, Jesus replied that the one who is truly blessed is the one who obeys the word of God. If you want to be blessed you must obey the word of God and live this life. In order to receive the gifts of eternity, you must not only study the word of God but you must put it into action. You must live a life that people will acknowledge and that God will acknowledge. You must be complete in you life. Your word and action must be one. It is because God is complete and He is one. May we all grab hold of the plow and live the life that is complete in word and action that we may share in the life that Christ has for us.