Been making my way through Luke, and there is some deep, hard-hitting stuff in there, men. There’s a moment where another man says to Jesus, “I will follow you, Lord, but first let me go and say goodbye to my family.” Christ responds: “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.” I’m going to be wrestling with that one all week. If simply wanting to say goodbye to your family before following Christ warranted that kind of response from the Lord, then where am I putting my hand to the plow while still looking back? Where am I rationalizing something in my own mind because I assume, “Surely He understands”? Where have I made my obedience conditional? Where am I asking Christ to fit into my plans instead of surrendering my plans to Him? That’s the uncomfortable part of following Jesus. His Word doesn’t just comfort us, it confronts us.

Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. — 1 Corinthians 16:13

11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Men I want us to think on this over the week as we will be discussing it and how it’s a vital tool in our daily lives.