In pursuing a course of action, many will opt for the path of least resistance. Very few will plod daunting avenues laden with thorns and thistles. Besides, partners in a venture want to undertake such, strictly on the terms that appeal to individual whims. Even so, adhering to strict, altruistic convictions is not easy to come by.

Our text captures the experience of the Lord Jesus Christ, as He chartered the daunting course to Jerusalem, where He paid the supreme price for man's sin. He had set His face as a flint on this journey and nothing, not even the agony of death, could alter this course. As He proceeded, there emerged diverse responses from His disciples and other allies. An acquaintance wanted to follow the Lord, without a thorough knowledge of its implications. Another wanted to bury the dead before becoming a real disciple, while another requested a ceremonial goodbye before accepting the call to follow the Lord. Evidently, these men did not comprehend the demands of discipleship. To them, following Jesus was conditional and for reasons that oddly verged between the violent and the permissive.

God's call to all is lofty and holy. Those with discernment accept the call with sobriety, without the usual recourse to a pleasurable and a compromising existence. They understand that the call is laden with suffering, persecution and tribulation but the aftermath is always glorious and rewarding. Christ's call to all requires unswerving conviction and focused commitment. The call, once accepted, is on his terms only. Only those who gratefully accept the call and submit to the majesty of God's will despite the odds that will eventually receive His crown and enjoy His eternal fellowship.