Is your time God’s?
What does it mean to “Give your life
to Christ”? This is a strange
saying. Christ is the one with abundant
eternal life. Shouldn’t you rather get
your life from Him? The purpose of this
document is to explain how you can go about doing that, and it’s ramifications
for how you manage your time (your life).
After all,
what is your life? Your time and money?
Your money will disappear, but you will always have time. You will live eternally either in heaven or
hell. You have plenty of time. The question is what you do with your time in
this life.
Eph 5:15-17
15 Be very
careful, then, how you live-- not as
unwise but as wise,
16 making the
most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.
17 Therefore do
not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's
will is. (NIV)
Colossians 4:4-6
(KJV)
…Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time. Let your speech be
always with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer
every man.
Your time and God’s will
Eph 5:15-17
15 See then
that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise,
16 Redeeming the time, because the days
are evil.
17 Wherefore be
ye not unwise, but understanding what the
will of the Lord is.
(KJV)
Time
management, or time stewardship, is referred to in the King James Bible as
“redeeming the time”. Notice the
conceptual link between it and understanding what the Lord’s will is. You need to redeem the time, so that you can
understand His will.
The world is busy. They do not make time for Jesus’ life to
overtake and replace their own. They do
not make time to seek him by reading his word and hearing his voice.
Romans
12:2
Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by
the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is–his good, pleasing and perfect will.
(Whole Chapter: Romans
12 In context: Romans
12:1-3)
An atheist
who decides to read the Bible could read about God’s will, in the general sense
of God’s will (i.e. “do this and don’t do that”). What about his “perfect will”? This is something only a person with a
transformed mind can test and approve (Romans
12:2).
Ephesians 2
10For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in
advance for us to do.
Which works? The ones he “prepared in advance for us to do”. This is the positive aspect of
God’s will for your life. If you focus
on doing His perfect will, you will not have time to sin.
The will
of the Father
Understanding
the Lord’s will for your life/time is important unto salvation. Jesus said:
Matthew
7:21
"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom
of heaven, but only he who does
the will of my Father who is in heaven.
(Whole Chapter: Matthew
7 In context: Matthew
7:20-22)
Matthew
12:50
For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven
is my brother and sister and
mother."
(Whole Chapter: Matthew
12 In context: Matthew
12:49-51)
I have
divided understanding the Lord’s will for your time (or life) management into four
component parts that will be explored in this document:
Questions:
1.
What
is “your life”?
2.
What
is the Lord’s will for your life?
3.
Time
Stewardship
4.
Are
you scattered?
1. Your Life?
Dying to live
Matt 10:37-39
37 "Anyone
who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who
loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me;
38 and
anyone who does not take his cross
and follow me is not worthy of me.
39 Whoever
finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses
his life for my sake will find it.
(NIV)
Side Note: If you lose your
life, you are dead. Here is the same
phrase above, “loses his life” used elsewhere
in the Bible of physical death: Judg
18:25 And the children of Dan said unto
him, Let not thy voice be heard among us, lest angry fellows run upon thee, and
thou lose thy life, with the lives of thy household. (KJV)
Dying for Christ?
We usually talk about “Living for Christ”. However, He wants you to die first. He does not want partial followers. He can only take over a life that has room to
be taken over. Making room for Christ to
dwell in you requires dying to your own life.
A man is either dead or alive, and no points in between. Now read this similar passage with death in
mind:
Matt 16:24-26
24 Then
Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny
himself and take up his cross and follow me.
25 For
whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.
26 What
good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul?
Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? (NIV)
Is this death a one time event? What
are dying to? Evil deeds only, or everything—our
entire life? Now read this similar
passage with death to the self-life
in mind:
2 Cor
(
Mark 8:34-37
34 Then
he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: "If anyone
would come after me, he must deny himself
and take up his cross and follow me.
35 For
whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for
the gospel will save it.
36 What
good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?
37 Or
what can a man give in exchange for his soul?
(NIV)
So, dying to the bad and keeping the
good parts of our life (or selves) is not what Christ is talking about. He’s talking about continually trading your
life in for His: by dying to your
self-life. His call is beyond religious
self-improvement: Deciding for yourself what is good
and bad—and trying to avoid the bad. He
calls us to literally follow Him.
The Christ-Directed Life:
John 12:24-26
24 I
tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed.
But if it dies, it produces many seeds.
25 The
man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this
world will keep it for eternal life.
26 Whoever serves me must follow me;
and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who
serves me. (NIV)
The Christ-directed life can only follow
the death of a participant. This is not
a symbolic death. Wouldn’t that make it
easy if it was? Christ clarifies how
real, behavioral, and daily this
death is for His followers.
Luke 9:23-25
23 Then
he said to them all: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.
24 For
whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me
will save it.
25 What
good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self? (NIV)
With this command comes the offer of
daily direction:
Matt 6:9-11
9 "This,
then, is how you should pray: "'Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your
name,
10 your
kingdom come, your will be
done on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give
us today our daily bread. (NIV)
Notice what verse 26 of the passage
above does and does not say:
26 Whoever serves me must follow me;
and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who
serves me. (NIV)
It does not say, “where my servant is,
I will also be”. This is to emphasize
that only Christ directs the new life.
Many have the idea that they have Jesus in their pocket and He’s there
to help them do what ever they want—as long as they decide that it’s a “good
thing”. They are trying to please God from
far away. Many refer to this
human-centered approach of pleasing God as “Religion”. However, Jesus died to live through us—but only
if we die daily and receive his life in exchange. This is true life, and a true loving relationship with God.
The
only good thing: the Christ-Directed Life
Christ places no confidence in our
ability to decide what is good:
Ps 53:1-3
1 The
fool says in his heart, "There is no God." They are corrupt, and
their ways are vile; there is no one who
does good.
2 God
looks down from heaven on the sons of men to see if there are any who
understand, any who seek God.
3 Everyone
has turned away, they have together become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one. (NIV)
Christ does not want us to decide what is good, and take our pick from thousands
of options. Why trust the self when
Christ Himself is available for daily direction? Besides, everything that is good is not God’s
will for your life. You can’t live a
thousand years. The question should not
be “is this good?” or “what is good?” The question should be “What is God’s will for me today, or right
now?”.
Matt 6:9-11
10 your
kingdom come, your will be
done on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give
us today our daily bread. (NIV)
In fact, below Christ does not even
care to answer about what is good.
Matt 19:16-22
16 Now
a man came up to Jesus and asked, "Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?"
17 "Why do you ask me about what is good?"
Jesus replied. "There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life,
obey the commandments."
18 "Which
ones?" the man inquired. Jesus replied, "'Do not murder, do not commit
adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony,
19 honor
your father and mother,' and 'love your neighbor as yourself.'"
20 "All
these I have kept," the young man said. "What do I still lack?"
21 Jesus
answered, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give
to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."
22 When
the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth. (NIV)
He instead directed the questioner
back to the real issue: Leaving his
self-life and following Christ.
Mark 10:17-23
17 As
Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him.
"Good teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal
life?"
18 "Why
do you call me good?" Jesus answered. "No one is good-- except God alone.
19 You
know the commandments: 'Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do
not give false testimony, do not defraud, honor your father and mother.'"
20 "Teacher,"
he declared, "all these I have kept since I was a boy."
21 Jesus
looked at him and loved him. "One thing you lack," he said. "Go,
sell everything
you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."
22 At
this the man's face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.
23 Jesus
looked around and said to his disciples, "How hard it is for the rich to
enter the kingdom of God!" (NIV)
Perhaps the listener interrupts with
his comment, since Christ’s list of commands is conspicuously uninclusive. In His next chance to speak, Christ goes
beyond stating that obedience to God’s moral law is all that is required to
inherit eternal life. He requires the
man to “follow” Him. In addition to the
“do nots”, He offers the positive hope of a “do”.
Once the man’s obedience to God’s commands
is established, Jesus is willing to discuss God’s will for the man’s life
personally. Notice that the following
quote was not the first thing Jesus told him.
It was made clear that the man was responding to the revelation of
Christ that he had the opportunity to receive before Christ gave him more
revelation.
20 "Teacher,"
he declared, "all these I have kept since I was a boy."
21 Jesus
looked at him and loved him. "One thing you lack," he said. "Go,
sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in
heaven. Then come, follow me."
Notice that Christ did not say, “no
you have not kept the commandments”. He
said that the man only lacked one
thing. That was a personal command: Christ speaking directly to the man**. He loved the man—the man was obedient to what
he knew—the moral law. He came seeking
more knowledge of God’s will. The Lord
responded as He always will to those seek Him:
With the direction they need to follow Him:
James
1:5-8
If any of you lacks wisdom, he
should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault,
and it will be given to him.
Luke 11:9-13
9 "So
I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock
and the door will be opened to you.
10 For
everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door
will be opened.
11 "Which
of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead?
12 Or
if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion?
13 If
you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children,
how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask
“Him!" (NIV)
Notice Christ pattern offering
direction, and how focused it is on the word of God. Christ Himself quoted scripture* to answer
the man. Christ’s answer was essentially
“obey the scriptures”. This man,
however, had already apparently read and obeyed the scripture. Therefore, Christ moved on to offering
direction at a more personal level: A
command for that man specifically**.
These same kind of personalized
commands are available to us today. They
are the basis for the Christ-directed life.
For more on this topic of Hearing God’s voice speak directly to you, you can read my e-book entitled Hearing God’s Voice.
Let’s review Christ’s pattern of
offering personal direction with a diagram:
You should start with number 1, and
go from there. It is not clear whether
the young man in this passage ever followed through to the bull’s-eye (4th
step) of this diagram. It is left
nebulous. I guess it remains to be seen
for all of us whether we will make it to the bulls-eye, or how long we will
stay there. This bull’s eye is the
Christ-Directed life.
This diagram and this teaching of Christ-- is crucial in understanding salvation. The man wanted to know how he could be sure that he would inherit eternal life. This is how Christ responded. How do you respond when someone asks you that type of question? Do you have them repeat a Christian mantra (A “sinner’s prayer” that is not in the Bible) after you-- and then tell them that they saved forever because of it?
2. What is the Lord’s will for your life?
In case the text and the diagram did
not make it clear, let’s look at another passage that explains this link
between time-management and knowing the Lord’s will. [brackets contain my writing]
Luke 14:25-33
25 Large
crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said:
26 "If
anyone comes to me and does not hate [love less than me] his father and mother,
his wife and children, his brothers and sisters-- yes, even his own life-- he
cannot be my disciple.
27 And
anyone who does not carry his cross and
follow me cannot be my disciple.
28 "Suppose
one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the
cost to see if he has enough money to complete it?
29 For
if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it
will ridicule him,
30 saying,
'This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.'
31 "Or
suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Will he not first
sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the
one coming against him with twenty thousand?
32 If
he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way
off and will ask for terms of peace.
33 In
the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.
(NIV)
Here Christ encourages potential
followers to count the cost of discipleship—in terms of not only of time
management, but everything management.
However, the link between time and money stewardship are illustrated by this parable of
the tower: One must count the cost of
time and money required to complete a tower, before he even sets out to begin
building a tower.
Christ did not try to trick people
into becoming Christians. He laid the
hard truth out before them and asked them to consider it before they even began
to follow Him. He wanted to let them
know upfront that they would continually devote all their time and money to
Him.
While that command in verse 33 might
seem vague, He provided the general model diagramed above, as well as a whole
bible full of ideas on how to deny yourself and follow Him.
John 10:27
27 My sheep listen to my voice; I know
them, and they follow me. (NIV)
He has also given his Spirit and/or His voice to direct us in this path of
obedience to the Father’s scriptural and personal commands.
3. Time Stewardship
Time-management is a humanistic or
human-centered term which implies that we are the manager of our time. To the disciple, Christ is the manager, and
we are the steward. A steward carries
out their manager’s personal commands only.
They do not invent ways of handling their manager’s resources
independent from Him. I hope this
analogy penetrates the truth of the above scriptures to our daily life. Indeed, we should only spend our time and
money on things Christ has told us to do.
Let me qualify that last statement
with some other scriptures which balance it.
I will address a few necessities of life which may be exceptions to this
rule.
Working for a living
Some respond to the scriptures
presented by quitting their job and reading the bible all the time. This may not be a bad idea—because they are
including their job with the “everything” that they were commanded to leave for
the sake of following Christ. If God
told them personally to do it, I would not question it. However, we must all keep these passages in mind.
Sleeping
Notice
how this scripture balances those immediately above.
Ps 127:1-5
1 Unless the LORD builds
the house, its builders labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city,
the watchmen stand guard in vain.
2 In vain you rise early
and stay up late, toiling for food to eat-- for he grants sleep to those he
loves. (NIV)
If you are not sleeping enough, make sure you are not ministering in the
flesh! Make sure God built the
house! Some Christians are driven more
by restlessness than by the spirit.
However, the scripture strikes a balance yet again in this passage:
Prov 24:30-34
30 I
went past the field of the sluggard, past the vineyard of the man who lacks
judgment;
31 thorns
had come up everywhere, the ground was covered with weeds, and the stone wall
was in ruins.
32 I
applied my heart to what I observed and learned a lesson from what I saw:
33 A
little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest--
34
and poverty will come on you like a bandit and
scarcity like an armed man. (NIV)
Health
I personally believe that God is OK with people putting time into
healthy living. If God wants his people
to be healed, then it follows that He wants His
people healthy. Otherwise, there would not be dietary and cleanliness laws in
the Torah. However, any “good thing” can
also become an idol if we put it ahead of God.
1 Tim 4:8
8 For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value
for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to
come. (NIV)
Also, God’s commands to work above could also be taken (secondarily) as
commands to exercise. I only say this
because I can’t think of a line of work that existed back then that did not
imply exercise.
I’m not saying that other Christians
should agree with my opinion on this issue of health. I say this for the sake of the new convert
who reads this article and gathers that he must plan on never exercising again
if he becomes a Christian.
4. Are you scattered?
After reading something this heavy,
it is easy to just say, “Hey that’s deep, I think I’ll do that”. Then you soon enough you forget and you’re
back to normal living. Let me offer you
some patterns to look out for to help you realize when you’re becoming a poor
steward of your time again.
2 Cor 13:5
5 Examine
yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus
is in you-- unless, of course, you fail the test? (NIV)
Check out the review questions to
see if you are, or your life tends to be “scattered”, or Christ-Directed.
Matt
30 "He
who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters. (NIV)
John 10:10-15
10 The
thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have
life, and have it to the full.
11 "I
am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
12 The
hired hand is not the shepherd who owns the sheep. So when he sees the wolf
coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock
and scatters it.
13 The
man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.
14 "I
am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me--
15 just
as the Father knows me and I know the Father-- and I lay down my life for the
sheep. (NIV)
Being scattered, like unthankfulness
and worry, is not listed in scripture as a deadly sin.
However, that does not mean that it can not lead to death if it goes
unchecked. If you’re worrying turns you
into a coward, then you stand condemned according to Rev. 21:8.
If you become so scattered that Christ does not have control of your
life, then you have apostatized.
How can He save something that He
does not have control over?
Where do you draw the line? When are you so scattered that your soul is
in peril? Meditating on these relevant
scriptures can answer this question individually for believers. I added some
questions for you at the end that should bring this issue into your daily life,
and so help you decide how to make room for Christ in your daily life. I would ask a more relevant question
though:
Why would a true believer want or
need to be scattered at all?
Hebrews 12:1
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us
throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let
us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.
(Whole Chapter: Hebrews 12 In context: Hebrews 12:1-2)
Order
We are called to be “like Him” (Philippians 3:10, 1 John 4:17).
1 John 2:6
Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.
(Whole Chapter: 1 John 2 In context: 1 John 2:5-7)
John 5:19
Jesus gave them this answer: "I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do
only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever
the Father does the Son also does.
(Whole Chapter: John 5 In context: John 5:18-20)
Living that way is the opposite of a
scattered, disorderly life:
1 Corinthians 14:33
For God is not a God of disorder but of peace.
(Whole Chapter: 1 Corinthians 14 In context: 1 Corinthians 14:32-34)
2 Corinthians 12:20
For I am afraid that when I come I may not find you as I want you to be, and
you may not find me as you want me to be. I fear that there may be quarreling,
jealousy, outbursts of anger, factions, slander, gossip, arrogance and disorder.
(Whole Chapter: 2 Corinthians 12 In context: 2 Corinthians 12:19-21)
James 3:16
For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder
and every evil practice.
(Whole Chapter: James 3 In context: James 3:15-17)
Summary
In this section you read about the
correlation between time management and the practical, daily Lordship of
Christ. The method of accessing Christ’s
abundant life was also presented and explained in a simple diagram. This diagram summarizes the scriptures set
forth in this document by clearly stating how to follow Jesus:
Mark 8:34-37
34 Then
he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: "If anyone
would come after me, he must deny himself
and take up his cross and follow me.
35 For
whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it.
36 What
good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?
37 Or
what can a man give in exchange for his soul?
(NIV)
- Self denial
- by first losing your life
(your spare time) (Matt
- for Christ
- for the Gospel (reading or
finding out what it is.)
- then by finding your life by obeying the Gospel.
The
following questions are designed to help you search your heart before God in
light of the scriptures presented so far (as well as the scriptures that are
linked to them).
Personal Application Questions
1) How many
different directions are you running in?
a)
Too busy dealing with what comes my way to even think
or care about vision or direction.
b)
Many words, many ideas, but
no completed visions from God.
c)
d)
Excited about so many things, that you could not do
them all and still enjoy enough QT alone with Jesus.
e)
Pursuing the primary and secondary objectives
corollary to the direction God has told me to go.
2) In conversation, I am
usually:
a)
Led by my flesh.
b)
Led by whatever is on my mind at that second.
c)
Led by others.
d)
Led by God.
3) In activity planning, I am usually:
a)
Led by my flesh.
b)
Led by whatever is on my mind at that second.
c)
Led by others.
d)
Led by God.
4) The percent
chance that I will follow through with a commitment I make are (James
5:12):
a)
0-25%
b)
25-50%
c)
50-75%
d)
75-90%
e)
90-100%
a)
I do not really know where half of my stuff is.
b)
I don’t always choose to pay my bills on time.
c)
I break commitments due to my lack of responsible
stewardship (of my cash, car, or valuables).
d)
I have credit card debt.
e)
I know where all my personal stuff is, and I have no debt which is causing me to continually
lose money.
6) Most
common reason for doing what you spend your time with (John
5:19 1
John 2:6):
a)
Was bored.
b)
Didn’t have anything better going on.
c)
Someone invited me.
d)
Needs to be done, and no one else will do it.
e)
Sounded good, prayed about, felt led.
f)
God gave me the idea to do it, or it fits with what
God told me to do already.
7) Knowing
your limits (John
5:19 1
John 2:6):
a)
I miss sleep because I mismanage my time. If God told me to do something, I would not
have time to do it.
b)
I decline invites and ideas because I do not have
time for them because of all the stuff I am committed to.
c)
I decline invites and ideas because I do not have time
for them and because they would take away the time I need to be with God, or to
do what God told me to do.
d)
I don’t spend more than an hour with anything unless
God tells me to, or unless it fits with what God told me to do already.
e)
I don’t spend more than 10 or 15 min. with anything
unless God tells me to, or unless it fits with what God told me to do already.
“Become
all things to all men, so that you become nothing to no one” - The book of Hesitations
Exercises
1. Quit doing everything except the essentials listed above in section 3. This is giving up your life.
2. Read/Study the Bible in all your spare time. This is seeking Christ’s life.
3. Follow all the moral “Do nots” in the Bible and ask the Lord which of the “Do’s” to follow when.
As you begin to obey these personal commands (see exercise #3) in your spare time, you will no longer only be Reading/Studying the Bible in your spare time. This is a good idea at first though. Before you assert yourself as a workman, you should be able to correctly handle the word of truth.
Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who
does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.
(Whole Chapter: In
context: )
Otherwise, you may be ashamed when someone points out a scripture that you had not considered in your preaching of the Gospel.
Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be
ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
(Whole Chapter: In
context: )
Answers to Review Questions
The last answer was always the best answer, in my
opinion. It is better for you to search
the scriptures before God for yourself on these matters though. You can start by looking at the context of
the scriptures provided. That is the
purpose of the questions, to convince you of
your greater need for God: So that you
can order your life around his word:
Instead of trying to squeeze His word into your life.
2
Chronicles 27:6
[2 Chr 26:5] So Jotham became mighty because he ordered his ways before the LORD his God.
(Whole Chapter: 2
Chronicles 27 In context: 2
Chronicles 27:5-7)
If you are into grading this type of thing, you can give
yourself one point for each “a”, two for each “b”, and so on. What is your gross scattered score?
Can you
honestly call Jesus your “Personal Lord” or Master? I’m not asking so that you can justify yourself
to me, God, or anyone else.
Luke
10:29
But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, "And
who is my neighbor?"
(Whole Chapter: Luke
10 In context: Luke
10:28-30)
I’m asking
so that you can examine yourself, truly give
your life to Christ, and follow Him now.
Luke 9
The Cost of Following Jesus
57As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, "I
will follow you wherever you go."
58Jesus replied, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have
nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head."
59He said to another man, "Follow me."
But the man replied, "Lord, first
let me go and bury my father."
60Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God."
61Still another said, "I will follow you, Lord; but first let
me go back and say good bye to my family."
62Jesus replied, "No one
who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom
of God”.
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