This is from Paul Estabrooks, Standing Strong Through The
Storm.
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.” Luke 9:57-60
One of the costs of following Jesus is the impact on our
children. If we, as parents, try to shelter our children from the cross then we
are guilty of the third temptation of Christ. Our children need to understand
that there will not be a victorious life in Christ without following the footsteps
to the cross. Not around the cross, as we often desire, but through the cross.
A co-worker once asked a Christian in Vietnam how he
introduces the gospel in the villages where people have never heard about God.
Without hesitating he answered “Oh very easily. I simply say, ‘I have good news
for you but it might cost you your life, would you like me to continue?’ People
want to hear good news and most of the time they eagerly ask me to tell them.
But the introduction is always that there will be a cost involved because for
us in Vietnam, being a Christian means a life of self-denial. When they are
persecuted and imprisoned they are not surprised. They expect it.”
The co-worker went on to say, “It sometimes amazes me how we
find it suitable to counsel our children regarding the costs involved in buying
a new bicycle or starting a new hobby but we never sit down and discuss the
cost of following Jesus. We need to train our children in no uncertain terms
that being ridiculed at school, being rejected and facing mockery, is part and
parcel of being a Christian. It comes in as a package and you cannot have the
one without the other. We need to train our children to sacrifice; we need to
train our children to count the cost; we need to train our children that they
do not belong to themselves.
“Our lives are often based on our expectations. If we are
confronted with the unexpected, we seldom know how to react. If we neglect to
teach and expose our children to the reality of the cross, difficulties will
come as a surprise.
“But, once again, if we as parents cannot testify through
our lives by being examples of living sacrifices, our teachings will be futile.
When was the last time you were ridiculed for the name of Jesus? When was the
last time you sacrificed your time and money to work among the lost? When was
the last time you sacrificed anything to visit the persecuted church?”
Paul Estabrooks
I hope you enjoyed that,
Robert
