Three Men, Three Roadblocks

"And it came to pass, that, as they went in the way, a certain man said unto him, Lord, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest.
58And Jesus said unto him, Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.
59And he said unto another, Follow me. But he said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. 60Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God.  61And another also said, Lord, I will follow thee; but let me first go bid them farewell, which are at home at my house.
62And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God."                                                                   Luke 9:57-62


Why would Jesus turn away a man who appeared to be willing to follow Him (vv 57-58)? Not only that, but this guy did not even offer an excuse as the other two did. The Lord knew that the man had an ulterior motive. This first man was not following Jesus out of sincerity. At that time Jesus was becoming quite famous. This man was after the "perks" of following someone who is famous - prestige, nice places to stay, and good favor by the multitudes. Jesus was quick to inform the man of His lodging situation. Somehow I think the man changed his mind. He allowed his excuse to be a roadblock that kept him from being effective for God.

The second man was actually commanded to follow Jesus (vv 59-60)! He offered a legitimate reason, a need to take care of his aging father. The Lord knew that perhaps the father was not as bad off as the man may have thought and that there were others available to taker care of the aging man. With this roadblock removed the second man could serve freely and be more effective for Christ.

In the third man we find another volunteer with an excuse (vv 61-62). This time it was not even the greatest of excuses. Someone might even wonder about this guy's sincerity. He was sincere but perhaps he had his priorities a little out of order. The Lord quickly helped him realize that going home would be the roadblock that would hold him back from being effective for Christ.

Whether sincere or not, whether the excuse was legitimate or silly, all three of the the men had one thing in common. Each of them had something in their life that would be a roadblock to prevent them from being effective for Christ. The first man allowed the roadblock to stay. The other two allowed Jesus to remove the roadblock. Like these three men, each of us has something in our lives that can prevent us from being more effective for Christ. The challenge to each of us is to seek the Lord and ask Him to reveal and remove the roadblocks that are keeping us from being more effective for Christ.