Read Luke 9:51-62 with your family.

Adults like to show children that Jesus was always loving and kind. But Jesus was also annoyed with his followers and tired of excuses. In today’s reading Jesus tells two of his closest friends, John and James, that they could not be mean just because they didn’t like how the Samaritans treated them. Then he told others who were new to following Jesus that if they wanted to follow Jesus, he was leaving now. Jesus was not waiting around until it was more convenient to them.

If we think following Jesus is always easy, we are wrong. Sometimes we have to make choices that take us away from everything we have ever known. People who decide they want to move to a new country to help other in a Christian organization make this choice a lot. People who decide they are going to work with poor and hurting people instead of a job that would pay them a comfortable wage, also make the same decisions.

Following Jesus means making choices and living with the consequences. Following Jesus is a lot more than showing up at church and thinking that’s all we have to do all week long. Following Jesus can be hard, but it’s a hard that leads to the best experiences of loving other, just as Jesus loved us.