As they were walking along the road, a man said to Jesus, I will follow you wherever you go. Jesus replied, foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the son of man has no place to lay his head. He said to another man, follow me. But the man 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. Still another said, I will follow you, Lord, but first let me go back and say goodbye to my family. Jesus replied, no one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God. Luke nine, verses 57 through 62 how are you coming along on those new year resolutions you made? Go to just about any gym in America the first few weeks of January, and you'll find tons of people who have vowed to lose weight in the year ahead. The employees at the gym will tell you, though, that by February or march, the number of people who are still pursuing that goal has dropped dramatically. As we all know, setting a goal is one thing, but following through and doing what you have to do to reach that goal is another thing. Commitment to Christ is no exception. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who was hanged for his faith and his rebellion against Adolf Hitler, declared that the cross is laid on every christian, the first. Christ's suffering, which every man must experience, is the call to abandon the attachments of this world. It is that dying of the old man which is the result of his encounter with Christ. As we embark upon discipleship, we surrender ourselves to Christ in union with his death. We give over our lives to death. Thus it begins. The cross is not the terrible end to an otherwise God fearing and happy life, but it meets us at the beginning of our communion with Christ. When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die. Being a Christian is no joke. It's not all fun and games. Sometimes it's hard. Sometimes it means swimming upstream against the strong current of popular opinion. Sometimes it means being ridiculed and threatened. Sometimes your physical safety is at risk. But that's the call of Christ, a call to abandon the world and to embrace the consequences. The people who succeed at losing weight are the people who set the goal and stick to the rigid routine and diet that reaching that goal requires. And the people who are truly committed disciples of Christ are the people who do whatever it takes to honor Christ in their lives, no matter what they have to abandon in this world to do so.

This has been your thought for the day with Steve Burkham, pastor of Community Christian Church in Stockton, California. If you have questions or comments for Pastor Steve, please send them to Daily Thoughts [email protected] have a great day, and we hope you'll join us tomorrow as Pastor Steve opens God's word to bring us another thought for the day.