Don’t Assume An Easy Road

“And a scribe came up to him and said to him, ‘Teacher, 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.’”

Isn't it funny that when people showed an eagerness to follow Jesus in the gospels, He never said, “That’s great, I can’t wait for you to be my follower.” But instead, He first slowed people down from making the decision to follow Him by letting them know of the costs. Rather than encouraging this Scribe in Matthew chapter 8, Jesus says, “I am the exalted, prophesied of, Son of Man. The one who knows the Ancient of Days. I am worthy of everything. Yet I find myself with no place to sleep. Creatures have their place, but not the Son of Man here on earth.”

It's as if He is saying, “Look, if you want to follow me, do so, but understand that it won’t be easy.” And likewise, in John chapter 6, when many people turned from Jesus, He didn’t say, “Wait guys, where are you going?” He let them walk away, knowing they weren’t willing to follow with all their hearts.

I wonder if one of the obstacles to contentment in the hearts of believers is that we have assumed following Jesus would make our lives easier. Perhaps you were sold the lie that if you come to Christ, He will give you everything you want, and He will be committed to your comfort. We aren’t content because we are looking for a place “to lay our head”, thinking surely we won’t face the same things Jesus faced. We aren’t content because we’ve forgotten that Jesus said “Take up your cross”, and not, “find your comfort and do what makes you happy.”

If you find yourself bitter at the circumstances of life this morning, ask yourself: is there glory without suffering first? Did Christ not first suffer and then enter into glory? Must we not suffer first with him, and then be glorified with Him (Romans 8:17)? If our Lord and Savior did not have an easy road, should we, as His followers, assume an easy road?

Let us remember this week that the foxes and the birds of the air (creatures of lesser value) had a place to lay their heads, but the Son of Man did not. And in light of that reality, let us then be content with whatever lot the Lord sees fit to give us, until we arrive in glory. Suffering first, glory later. Press on dear flock.

~ Pastor Alexander