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Thursday, June 4, 2015

The Cost of Shelter

The Cost of Following Jesus
Then a teacher of the law came to him and said, “Teacher, 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.” (Matthew 8:19-20 NIV).


I soon will be selling my home.  All those who have lived a long time in a home can appreciate what I am going through.  It has represented a tower of strength in my life for over thirty years. It has been a safe refuge I could depend upon and fill with keepsakes that gave my life a sense of stability and continuity.  It is from this stance that I consider that during Jesus's ministry he was essentially homeless--his tower of strength and anchor being his Heavenly Father.  When we consider the temptations of Jesus, we can only speculate what insidious and subtle temptations would have arisen had he been born and raised upon an expansive and wealthy family estate.  Being the first born, it is my understanding that he could look forward to a sizable inheritance.  As a member of the prestigious family, he would have been exceedingly prominent in the community and in the temple.  On the other hand, how would my viewpoint change if I were 100% itinerant without solid assurance of getting food and shelter for extended periods.  For someone who likes all his "ducks in a row" before setting out even on a vacation, I think such a situation would drive me nearly crazy as anxiety and fretting would be constant.  Perhaps my relative material prosperity today is actually a spiritual loss....I hope I never have to find out.


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