Today’s Gospel tells us that the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head. There are the words the so-called disciples tells Jesus, “We will follow Him anywhere.” And Jesus answers with these words, “the Son of Man has no where to rest his head”. Every time I read that line I feel kind of sad to think that my Savior has no place to rest. I believe that Jesus was telling this man that following him is not an easy task. Jesus was moving from place to place in order to bring the good news to as many people as possible. I believe he was trying to tell him it’s really difficult to follow him. And it can be.

We are told that the road to heaven is very narrow. Now we know why, because it can be difficult! To reach any worthy goal it takes work. It’s the same in our spiritual walk, but isn’t it worth reaching for? Does it take some effort? Of course it does. Few of us are given things on a silver platter. Scripture is full of stories of times when Jesus met those that were not happy with what he was doing, spreading the good news. He left friends and family behind. But even then He had those that would follow him and help him along the way.

We have three daughters (and five sons) and all three of them experienced some form of what Jesus did, one at a time. They all left home and became missionaries for several years. They left family and friends to give themselves to Jesus and to help spread the good news. Some were in different countries even farther away from home. But they persevered. As time went on they discerned that the Lord was calling them to a new vocation. They are all raising families now and doing well. But, they tell me that those years they spent in the missionary fields they would trade for nothing. God has blessed them for giving Him their first shot.

One thing we never know is how we would react in a certain situation or when making a very important decision. This of course takes a process of discernment. Even that sometimes is very difficult. If you were to ask me if I would give my life for Jesus, what would my answer be? I have thought of this many times in my life. Of course I tell myself, sure I could do that!  But in reality I would not know unless I actually did it and if I actually had the faith to do it.

Many decisions in life are not that heavy, but even some of the lighter ones can be troublesome. This Gospel reading is about making decisions. Many times I have used the term  “Am I all in”? Meaning, am I all in for the Lord? In my heart, I say yes. My mind actually doesn’t prove that I have. So, I continue to do my best for myself and for my family and my Church that we all will help Jesus, to find a place to rest his head and believe the Good News that he continues to give us!

Serving With Joy!

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