As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” Jesus replied, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.” He said to another man, “Follow me.” But the man replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” Still another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say good-by to my family.” Jesus replied, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.” Luke 9:57-62 (NIV 1984)

The first step to being a disciple of Jesus is to say, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.”

This step is not enough though. We must decide to follow Him without reservation.

Tom Lunger shared with me a teaching he heard about 3 things we can’t do in following Jesus. I loved them and so I share them here.

3 things you can’t do when you decide to follow Jesus to be His disciple.

1. Negotiation

You can’t negotiate with Jesus as to the conditions of following Him. You either do or you don’t.

2. Procrastination

Can I bury my father? This man wanted to follow Jesus, but he felt he needed to take care of some family issues first. He wanted to wait till his father died, bury him, and then follow Jesus. We don’t know when this man’s father was going to die? Weeks, Months, Years? Jesus didn’t consider this a reason to not follow him. Sounds harsh to me.

Intentions are not enough. Action is required.

3. Hesitation

Enough said. This tests whether we think it is just a good idea or a life change.