But Jesus said unto him, Follow me; and let the dead bury their dead. Matthew 8:22 (KJV)
There are some texts that we prefer not to look into too deep. If we read them or refer to them we do so lightly, and then pass on to ones which we feel more comfortable with.
The problem with this is that if we fail to accept all the instructions that the Bible provides, we cannot have a healthy faith. It is like trying to row a boat with only one oar.
Nobody likes to hear that they are not in the clear and that they standing dangerously close to sin and judgment.
However, if you are seriously thinking of finding yourself standing by Jesus´ side and permitted to enter the life of which He speaks, we had better pay attention to all that we can.
When Jesus calls some people dead, who is He talking about?
Do you think He was referring to people who had not made a choice to follow Him? In this story he was actually talking to a person who had made this choice, but Jesus asked for more.
As is usually the case, Jesus was not speaking literally. He used stories to help explain spiritual truths. Being grounded in the spiritual, these truths always have deeper meanings and purpose than our lower human powers of perception.
While we remain in our fallen human bodies and have not yet passed through the renewal of all things, we are still dead in our sins. We live only as we find life in Jesus. Like Peter, who was able to walk on the water as long as he was looking at Jesus, we have life in Him. The moment we look away to any other thing, we begin to sink whether we see it or not.
This is why Jesus encourages us so intently to seek Him and His kingdom before all things. Life is not simply the years we are given here on earth from birth to our death. We are creatures created by a divine being and were created for His divine purposes. There is a spark, a soul, a life that finds its purpose when it is directed to its creator. The scriptures try to show us that this life was intended by God to have eternal nature.
Sin disturbed this correct order of things and as a result all sorts of limitations were placed upon us human beings. Correctly adjusting ourselves to our Lord can begin to undo these effects, and this begins with faith. But until our Savior returns to restore all things, our only hope to find this life of which He speaks, is to be found in Him.
Our eyes, our hearts and our attention need to be directed only on Him. Faith is how we accomplish this. We direct ourselves to Him and in doing this; magically His power begins to activate His life in us. This brings glory to Him. His created creatures believe that what He says about Himself is true. There is no mechanical device which can detect God and besides the Holy Bible, we do not have another instruction booklet. We step out on this faith and say, ¨OK we will turn to Him.¨
Let us keep one thing clear, life belongs to the One who created it. A limited sort of life has been placed in each one of us for a time. The right use of this life is to dedicate it again to its creator in worship, love and prayer. Anyone trying to interrupt this correct purpose of the life we have on loan, is in fact dead. We may still be moving and breathing slightly, but make no mistake, outside of God the Creator, there is an eminent terminal quality to this life.
Jesus paid the price of our sins and restored the possibility for us to adjust ourselves correctly to Him. But to activate this process we must first turn from something and to something. We must turn from our fallen purposes and seek His purposes. The only way to know what is in His heart is to be close to Him. So close we should be, that our own desires and thoughts are not actually our own, but some reflection of His own thoughts and desires at work within us.
This is not accomplished in a once done decision. This is a process of devoting ourselves to the Lord in an ever increasing form, until He has become the center and most important thing in our lives. We owe it to Him, He has told us this much. What remains is for us to work along with Him in effecting this change.
We can have life if we follow Jesus. But if we look to the world around us, as beautiful as it may be, we are not looking at Him. Jesus told us to follow Him and to let the dead worry about their dead. He was not referring to whether or not it was right to hold a funeral ceremony or not. He was directly telling you and me that if we were not doing everything we do, as a reaction of our love and dedication to Him, we were actually dead. His life was not able to work in us to sustain us on a deeper and more eternal level.
This life we live now is not the life He has for us. That eventual life that He wishes to give and has worked long and hard to procure for us, can and will be given to those who truly desire it. To truly desire means that we are willing to do what is necessary to attain it. It starts by believing in Him, and following His words.
Let us each realize in all sincerity and honesty, just how much we owe to Him. Let us leave our concerns of this world and turn entirely to Jesus. All the worldly concerns will find their correct place, but not because we made it happen. God will take care of whatever He deems necessary to happen. Those dead to Him, who failed to follow Him completely and before all else, will be the ones who will concern themselves with their dead ones.
Those who chose to follow Jesus first and make Him the biggest and most important thing in life will do what the Lord wants them to be doing. They will love, feel, think and engage this world, not out of their desires but those they are led to through following Him. In looking at Jesus they will see clearly what He is doing and only in doing and will not have to look away ever to concern themselves with the decaying world around.
Those who would keep something for themselves or choose to concern themselves with their lives here first will not understand this basic principle of faith.
But let the sincere and the honest follower listen carefully at the encouragement of Jesus. Let us follow Him first. There are plenty of others who will concern themselves with what is happening around us while we look to nothing less than Him.
May He provide what we lack in earnestness and desire.
Amen
Scott W
Searching For Christ 
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