Will I Follow…Now?

He said to another man, “Follow me.”

But the man 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.”

This response is much different from that of Peter and Andrew who were casting their nets and “at once” left them to follow Jesus; and the response of James and John who were in a boat with their father and “immediately” left the boat to follow Jesus.

The man, whose name we do not know, did not say no to Jesus, but basically said, “Later, I will follow you.”

How that resonates with me.  I want to be faithful.  I want to jump out of the boat.  I want to drop my nets.  But it’s so easy to say, “First let me do this, then later I will follow you.”

I wonder how Jesus feels about my excuses.  Of all the things I would jump out of the boat for, is a call to step out of my comfort zone one of them?

“Later, when my children are grown…”

“Later, when I retire…”

“Later, when my parents are gone…”

What if later never comes?