By Dr. Paul Chappell
Luke 9:59-62 And he said unto another, Follow me. But he said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God. And another also said, Lord, I will follow thee; but let me first go bid them farewell, which are at home at my house. And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.
When Jesus called the twelve disciples to follow Him, He didn*t offer any part time positions. Peter, Andrew, James, and John left behind their fishing boats. Matthew gave up his despised but lucrative position as a tax collector for the Romans. All of them left everything behind to spend the next years of their lives with Jesus. They heard Him teach, they asked Him questions, and they learned what they needed to know to prepare them to lead the church and spread the gospel after Jesus returned to Heaven. They were willing to pay the price to follow Him.
A large number of people followed Jesus for a time at the beginning of His ministry, but as He made the purpose of His coming more and more clear, most of them deserted Him. *From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him. Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away?* (John 6:66-67). The call to be a disciple of Jesus requires complete commitment. Nothing can be allowed to come before our service and obedience to Him.
Horatius Bonar wrote, *If you are Christians, be consistent. Be Christians out and out; Christians every hour, in every part. Beware of halfhearted discipleship, of compromise with evil, of conformity to the world, of trying to serve two masters—to walk in two ways, the narrow and the broad, at once. It will not do. Halfhearted Christianity will only dishonor God, while it makes you miserable.*
