Let’s read Luke 9:57-58, “Now it happened as they journeyed on the road, that someone said to Him, ‘Lord, I will follow You wherever You go.’ 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’” (NKJV).

This passage brings before us the “cost of discipleship.” The man in verse 57 was no doubt very sincere in his desire to follow Christ, but did he realize what was involved in following the Lord? Perhaps not, for the Lord Jesus informs him that foxes and birds have homes to live in to keep them comfortable and safe, but the Lord did NOT have a place that He could call home. Think of it, dear reader, here is the Lord of Glory, the very Creator of all things, yet He didn’t have a place “to lay His head.” These words inspired a hymn writer to pen the following words:

“Lamb of God! When we behold Thee, Lowly in the manger laid; Wandering as a homeless stranger, In the world Thy hands had made.”

This should humble us to realize that our Savior wandered as a homeless stranger as He “went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people” (Matthew 9:35). He was a tireless servant who was devoted to doing His Father’s will and meeting the needs of His earthly people Israel. And in this path of service He was willing to be deprived of the “comforts of home.”

We aren’t told whether or not the man followed Christ, but if you read the rest of the chapter we see that two others were given the opportunity to “follow Christ” and they both found excuses to go home first. Verses 59-62 read: “Then He said to another, ‘Follow Me.’ But he said, ‘Lord, let me first go and bury my father.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of God.’ And another said, ‘Lord, I will follow You, but let me first go and bid them farewell who are at my house’. But Jesus said to him, ‘No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God’.” Both of these men became “homesick” at the very thought of following Christ and having to endure hardships. The Lord rebukes them for thinking more of home and family than they did of Him and the kingdom of God.

Before we close this meditation, let’s be clear that this passage has nothing to do with SALVATION, which is a FREE GIFT that “costs us nothing.” The subject here is SERVICE, which will indeed “cost us something” if we are going to follow Christ wherever He leads us. The Lord said on one occasion, “Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his  cross, and follow Me” (Mark 8:34). If we are going to serve the Lord, we MUST be willing to DENY OURSELVES. This includes denying every self-interest, whether it be the comforts of home, personal ambitions, material gain, and even enjoying our family (if the Lord chooses to call you to a distant land in service to Him). We MUST also TAKE UP OUR CROSS, which means being willing to suffer persecution from the world and possibly even the ultimate sacrifice of laying our life down in death. Are you “following Christ,” dear friend?  (222.1)  (DO)