Some-Daying God

Another disciple said to him, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father." But Jesus told him, "Follow me and let the dead bury their own dead." -Matthew 8:21-22 (NIV)

When Bishop Dick Wills was in Tennessee, I recall him saying that he wanted the lives of his pastors to reflect three priorities: God, family, and church...and he wanted them prioritized in that order. He freely talked about the danger to pastoral families of putting the church before our family. Children and spouses begin to resent the church because they never feel as important as the church.

So then I read today's suggested chapter of the New Testament about a man who is commanded not to return to bury his father but instead to follow Jesus. I don't know about you but I can't imagine how missing your father's funeral is going to improve your standing at the next family reunion.

But many scholars suggest that this man's father had not just died; in fact, these scholars don't think that the man's father was dead at all. Instead, it was the man's way of putting off Jesus, saying, "I know I need to follow you and one day I will. But I can't right now. Some day, after my dad dies, after I receive my inheritance, after I've done some other things, then I'll follow." If that is true, Jesus wasn't rudely insisting that the man not even take the time to go to his father's funeral. What he was instead saying is, "You'll always find a reason to put off following me. And if you don't do it now, you may never do it. Do it now."

I've done this a lot in my own life. Some day, after I retire, I'll go on that dream vacation. Some day, after I'm finished with this project, I'll read my Bible more. Some day, when I'm not on so many conference committees, I'll start exercising more regularly. Sound familiar? It's the danger of some day!

 Are you some-daying God? Is there something that God is clearly calling you to do, to be, or to say and your response has been, "Well, I'm doing this right now. But some day, God, you'll have more of my attention."

May God grant you the grace to stop some-daying God today.




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Tomorrow's suggested readings: Matthew 9. 

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