What your pillow says about you …

If you’ve ever been on a long flight, bus ride, or cross country trip in a car, you may have invested in an item similar to the one pictured to the right.

A neck pillow not only provides stability to the neck, but a soft place to rest your head. No matter if you’re stretched out on a bed, or trying to sleep while traveling, you never really rest well until you can comfortably rest your head.

Imagine, then, how exhausting the earthly ministry of Jesus must have been for Him:

“Then one of the teachers of religious law said to him, ‘Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.’ But Jesus replied, ‘Foxes have dens to live in, and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place even to lay his head,'” Matthew 8:19-20.

To carry out His mission to save humankind, Jesus left home twice. First, He left the splendor of heaven and all that entailed; later, He left His earthly home to launch His ministry among us. When He traveled in His ministry, He didn’t check in at the local Hilton, get a suite, and teach in the ballroom.

He didn’t have a place to lay His head.

When Jesus pointed out this fact to a religious teacher who said he wanted to follow Him, the fellow had to choose between the comfort of his pillow, or following in the footsteps of Jesus Christ. We don’t know what the man chose, but the lack of a positive result being recorded may indicate he picked a place to rest his head.

It may sound a little crazy to us that someone might choose a pillow over Jesus, but we aren’t much different. There’s very little comfort we’re willing to give up for the cause of Christ. We see following Christ as being recipients of blessings, not surrenderers of comforts. But that’s a false picture of followership. Jesus described following Him like this:

“Then Jesus said to his disciples, ‘If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it,'” Matthew 16:24-25.

What are the creature comforts you cling to that keep you from fully following Christ? What are you willing to give up for Christ’s sake? How uncomfortable are you willing to become in order to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ? Which is greater in your life: walking in the footsteps of Jesus, or the comfort of your pillow?

Scotty