The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

Matthew 8:18-23, “Now when Jesus saw a crowd around Him, He gave orders to depart to the other side of the sea.
19 Then a scribe came and said to Him, “Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go.”
20 Jesus said to him, “The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.”
21 Another of the disciples said to Him, “Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father.”
22 But Jesus said to him, “Follow Me, and allow the dead to bury their own dead.”
23 When He got into the boat, His disciples followed Him.”

True disciples will always follow Jesus. In this short passage, and as a crowd pressed upon Him, a scribe said, “Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go.” We have to be careful not to insert words here that would cast doubt upon the scribe’s declaration. Yet, it was said in the presence of a crowd; and scribes often looked for crowds where they could display their knowledge or intentions.

Yet, another, who perhaps would not have a scribe’s declaration out-due him, said, “…let me first go and bury my father.” It was likely that his father was still living; thus,
the meaning of his public announcement was that he would wait until his father died; then, he would follow Jesus.

These were both huge declarations, whether or not they were genuinely intentional. We are too often like both of them, in that we talk as if we’re serious, but we, some-how, never get around to doing what we claim. I think it’s called “procrastination!”
Someone has given that word some substance by saying, “Never put off ‘til tomorrow what you can do next week.”

It’s interesting to note that Jesus did not wait on either of these “gonna-do-its.” He got into the boat that wasn’t waiting. Notice well that His true disciples followed Him. Are you a true disciple?

The word “disciple” means “learner.” Are you a student of the Bible? Do you read the Bible daily? Do you spend daily time with Christ in prayer? Is your life sharing Him with others? One day that “boat” will leave for good. Will you be on it? I pray that you will.

Heartily in Christ Jesus,

(Dado III)

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.
Springdale, Arkansas 72764
United States of America

“We never know that Christ is all we need until He becomes all that we have.” – Corrie ten Boom