Luke 9: 57-62

Following Christ

In Luke 9, it states:
 

⁵⁷ 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.

⁵⁸ And 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.

⁵⁹ And he said unto another, Follow me. But he said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father.

⁶⁰ Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God.

⁶¹ And another also said, Lord, I will follow thee; but let me first go bid them farewell, which are at home at my house.

⁶² And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.

I like these verses of scripture. As I contemplate their meaning, I keep thinking about my life and my devotion to my Heavenly Father. Am I putting other things above the Almighty? Am I concerning myself with the "things" of this world rather than focusing on the most important? When we truly follow Christ, I think we must align our lives with Christ. In today’s world there are many things that can confuse what that means.

President Hinckley shared a story about young men who did this exact thing. He said,  “In 1856 more than a thousand of our people, some of them perhaps your forebears, found themselves in serious trouble while crossing the plains to [the Salt Lake Valley]. Because of a series of unfortunate circumstances, they were late in getting started. They ran into snow and bitter cold in the highlands of Wyoming. Their situation was desperate, with deaths occurring every day.

“President Young learned of their condition as the October general conference was about to begin. He immediately called for teams, wagons, drivers, and supplies to leave to rescue the bereft Saints. When the first rescue team reached the Martin Company, there were too few wagons to carry the suffering people. The rescuers had to insist that the carts keep moving.

“When they reached the Sweetwater River on November 3, chunks of ice were floating in the freezing water. After all these people had been through, and in their weakened condition, that river seemed impossible to cross. It looked like stepping into death itself to move into the freezing stream. Men who once had been strong sat on the frozen ground and wept, as did the women and children. Many simply could not face that ordeal.

“And now I quote from the record: ‘Three eighteen-year-old boys belonging to the relief party came to the rescue, and to the astonishment of all who saw, carried nearly every member of the ill fated handcart company across the snowbound stream. The strain was so terrible, and the exposure so great, that in later years all the boys died from the effects of it. When President Brigham Young heard of this heroic act, he wept like a child, and later declared publicly, “that act alone will ensure C. Allen Huntington, George W. Grant, and David P. Kimball an everlasting salvation in the Celestial Kingdom of God, worlds without end.”’ (Solomon F. Kimball, Improvement Era, Feb. 1914, p. 288.)” (in Conference Report, Oct. 1981, 59–60; or Ensign, Nov. 1981, 42).

I love this story of sacrifice. I love that these young men chose to lift those around them despite the consequences. I love the example they set of what it means to be Christ-like. Choosing Christ over the pressures of the world isn’t always easy. Being in the world, but not “of” the world can be difficult. I think we have to love God with all of our heart—we have to love God so that His opinion is what matters to us. I truly believe that as we develop this relationship with our Heavenly Father, we will be able to act as we say we believe. President Marion G. Romney, said, “Jesus was not looking for, or calling, men to do lip service only. He wanted them to realize that following him meant effort and sacrifice” (in Conference Report, Sept.–Oct. 1978, 54; orEnsign, Nov. 1978, 38).