Matthew 8:18–22 (Listen)
18 Now when Jesus saw a crowd around him, he gave orders to go over to the other side. 19 And a scribe came up and said to him, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.” 20 And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” 21 Another of the disciples said to him, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” 22 And Jesus said to him, “Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead.”
Devotional:
The Cost of Following
Jesus didn’t promise that following Him would be easy. He also doesn’t guarantee worldly wealth, prosperity, or popularity. In fact, following God in this world is widely viewed as unpopular. Jesus said even He, in all His perfection, didn’t have a place to rest His head. Much of the world was against Him. Being a Christian isn’t always easy and comfortable. The Christian lifestyle is that of temporal sacrifice (such as popularity and worldly wealth) for eternal prosperity (perfect relation with our Heavenly Father). The cost of living in the world doesn’t compare to the eternal value of being a disciple of Christ. Discipleship is an eternal investment that has eternal rewards.