Luke 9:57-62; ; Luke 10:1-9
It is easy to say: "Lord, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest" (v. 57). But the Lord Jesus did not hide what is required of those who follow Him (see v. 23). Now the greatest obstacles are not found in the pathway, but rather in our hearts; and to help us discover what they are, the Lord inspects the most secret recesses of the human heart. The love of comfort (v. 58), such and such a convention, habit or attachment (vv. 59, 61) would quickly take precedence over the obedience we owe to Christ and would then lead us to regrets, to backward glances, and maybe even to giving up everything entirely.
In ch. 10, the Lord Jesus sets apart 70 workers whom He Himself thrusts into the harvest. He gives them instructions and sends them out "as lambs among wolves" (v. 3). They have to display the humbleness and gentleness which characterised the One who was the Lamb among the same wolves.
Then as now there are few workers. May we earnestly pray to the Lord of the great harvest (2 Thessalonians 3:1). He is the One entrusted with the appointing, forming and sending of the new servants; however to be able to pray earnestly and rightly, then we must be ready . . . ready to be sent out ourselves.