Distractions vs. Discipleship

 Read Deuteronomy 19-20. 

Moses repeated laws concerning the cities of refuge, property boundaries, witnesses in court cases, and warfare. 

The war situation described here is one where the army sees they are outnumbered.  What should they do?  The first item on the check list was the spiritual assessment.  This does not make any sense to the godless.  The unspoken question underlying this assessment is, "Is this what God wants us to be doing?"  If the answer is yes, then the people of God are not alone.  It is God's fight and He will use His people in the process of accomplishing His will.  Therefore, it was the priest, not the general, who was to say "Do not fear or panic or dread them, for the LORD your God is he who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies to give you the victory." (20:3-4) 

Next the officers of the army were to speak up with qualifications of service.  Fighting men must be free from distractions.  There were four exemptions issued to men in the following circumstances:

1. They had just built a new house and had not moved in yet.  His family would need him to settle into their new home.

2. They had just planted a vineyard and had not enjoyed a harvest.  The plants would need tending if the family would eat and have future crops.

3. They had just become engaged and had not married.  The man's heart would constantly be thinking of her and establishing a family.

4. They had such fear that there was no ability to fight.  Such a person would only prove to be a danger to themselves in battle and they would put those around them in peril.

In each case it was better that those men just go home. 

Not so for those who are followers of Jesus.  A soldier of the Cross is in a constant spiritual battle.  There are no deferments, no exemptions.  In one of the passages often referred to as "the hard sayings of Jesus", Luke 9:57-62 provides specific examples:

1. "Someone said to him, 'I will follow you wherever you go.'"

Jesus' answer: "Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head."

Being willing to go without what others deem as essential challenges the earthly mindset of self-preservation.  The songwriter was correct: "This world is not my home.  I'm just passing through."

Question: Are my attachments to the things of this world distracting me from following Jesus wholeheartedly? 

2. Another said, "Lord, let me first go and bury my father."

Jesus' answer: "Leave the dead to bury their own dead.  But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God."

This hard response is indicative of the radical commitment of a follower of Jesus and the urgency of the message to be delivered.  If need be, the spiritually dead could bury the physically dead.  Though others may not have understood, though it could possibly have cost this man his inheritance, eternity is at stake for those who have not heard the good news.

Question: How urgent is it for me to tell others about the wonderful relationship they can have with Jesus? 

3. "Yet another said, 'I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home.'"

Jesus' answer: "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God."

Jesus was on His way to Jerusalem.  There was no time for waiting.  This decision was more important than even the man's own family.

Question: Is following Jesus my most important priority today?