As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.”
Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”
He said to another man, “Follow me.”
But he 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 goodbye to my family.”
Jesus replied, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”
Luke 9:57-62

Let’s look at the first potential Jesus follower:

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.”
Luke 9:57-58

“I want to follow you, Jesus, but on my terms.”

The second potential Jesus follower is found is vs 59-60:

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.”
Luke 9:59-60

"You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 
Matthew 22:37-39

I want to follow you, Jesus…but not just yet. Or, in other words: I’ll follow Jesus when I get around to it.

So, let’s look at the third and final potential Jesus follower:

And another also 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.”
‍Luke 9:61-62

I want to follow you, Jesus… but first I gotta ________. (fill in the blank) Or, in other words: I’ll follow Jesus after I get my priorities in order.

Jesus is testing to what extent our true allegiance lies.

“Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it.”
Luke 9:23-24

You can’t follow Jesus and run your own life.

We must keep our eyes on Jesus, who leads us and makes our faith complete. He endured the shame of being nailed to a cross, because he knew that later on he would be glad he did. Now he is seated at the right side of God’s throne! So keep your mind on Jesus, who put up with many insults from sinners. Then you won’t get discouraged and give up.
Hebrews 12:2-3

Action Steps

Multiple choice: Let’s have an honest, self-reflection time. 

Choose one:

1. “I want to follow you, Jesus, but on my terms.”
2. “I want to follow you, Jesus…but not just yet.”
3. “I will follow you, Jesus, but first I gotta get my priorities in order.”
4. All of the above
5. None of the above