"If you are looking for an excuse not to follow Jesus you will always find one!"


That is an application from Matthew 8:21-22 where one of Jesus' disciples came to him and said "Lord, let me first go and bury my father." Jesus' response to him was a command: Follow me! Followed by an explanation: "let the dead bury their own dead." In that day, and still in some cultures in the present, this phrase does not necessarily mean that someone has just died or is in the last moments of their life. Rather, it means that eventually they would die, and in a family-centered culture, an adult child or relative would stay until the parent passed away, thus helping them in their family trade and securing an inheritance of their own.


In other words, the disciple was really saying this: "Someday, after my father has died, I will come back and follow you." He was making an excuse. Many people do this in life today. They like the idea of what Christ offers but don't like the requirements. They would rather go and live their life however they choose and someday, if they can time it just right, at the very last second, would grasp after him.
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There will never be a lack of things to entice you away, whether they be family, promotions, pleasures, or the like. If you look for an excuse, it will always be there. However, the call of Christ is right now: Follow him! Believe on Him! It is worth the cost.

"This is the day that the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it." ~ Psalm 118:24
Do you realize that this verse is true every day? God has made each day; each day is a gift from his good hand.

Therefore we are to:
1) Acknowledge that he is our Creator and Sustainer.
2) Respond appropriately. The psalmist calls us to rejoice and be glad in this fact. We don't get upset, but rather recognize the goodness of God in his work!


Today is the first day of the new week. It is the day that Christians have assembled together for corporate worship since the Church was established. What better way to rejoice and be glad in the work of God than to join with other believers for the purpose of corporate worship through the singing of songs and hymns and spiritual songs together, through the preaching of the Word, through prayer, and through fellowship?
In the words of liturgy: "it is right to give him thanks and praise!"