The Bus Stop is a series of true stories about my life, people I've worked with and events I've experienced. Of course the names have been changed. I hope these stories will brighten your day with a few laughs as well as give you encouragement. Hopefully you can avoid making some of the mistakes I've made and if you have already made them, then you can identify with me.

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Moving Forward

Several years ago I was getting to ready for work early one morning. It was still dark and I was getting dressed. As I bent over to put my shoes on I heard a quiet voice in my heart that said, “Let the dead bury their dead.” I rose up quickly and thought, “What was that?”


I knew immediately that it was a verse of scripture that I hadn’t thought of for years. Then I began to wonder what exactly that meant. I went on to work and while it was quiet and I was the only one there I looked up that verse in the Bible to see if I could understand why I received this message. It said, “When Jesus saw the crowd around him, he gave orders to cross to the other side of the lake. Then a teacher of the law came to him and said, "Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go." Jesus replied, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head." Another disciple said to him, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father." But Jesus told him, "Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead." Matthew 8:18-22


I remembered this verse and always thought it seemed kind of heartless. I mean for crying out loud, the only thing this guy wanted to do was bury his dad. Then the Holy Spirit explained it to me. You see, there’s a good chance that this man’s father wasn’t dead or even sick. In other words, it was just an excuse to not follow Jesus right now.


For the first time in my life God was becoming real to me and I wanted to follow Him everywhere. I wanted to take everyone with me that I could, but to my amazement many didn’t want to come with me. I’m talking about good Christian friends that would rather stay in their comfort zones. Many even thought I was crazy or had gone off the deep end. I was confused and didn’t know what to do. Jesus said, “If you want to come and experience exciting adventures with me, get on the boat.”


That day I had to leave many friends behind and even some family. I had to quit looking back and start moving forward. It broke my heart, but I’ve never regretted doing it.

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