Lord, I will follow You wherever You go

Luke 9:57
Now it happened as they journeyed on the road, that someone said to Him, “Lord, I will follow You wherever You go.”

This particular man wanted to follow Jesus. However he had some personal matters to attend to, and it was to bury his father. In most circumstances, burying his father would take priority. In addition, given the obvious emotional state of the man after his recent lost, it would be understandable for the man to hold off his other duties and attend the mourning. This particular situation is deliberately recorded to emphasize there is nothing more important than Jesus Himself. When He calls us to follow, we must similarly leave all thing behind.

Whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple

Luke 14:26,27,33
If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, ..... And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me ....So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple.

This passage is often taught that it is not trivial to follow Jesus and that it comes at a great cost. Another teaching is that following Jesus is a worthwhile cause and so we should count the cost and decide it is worth it. Yet another perspective is that of following Jesus rather than following doctrine. It is quite clear that Jesus asks people to follow Him and to be completely devoted. He does not advocate our devotion to any kind of doctrine. He asks us to look toward Himself rather than any of His teachings. So it is clear that being a disciple and following Him requires our complete devotion to the person of our Messiah Yshua.

Come, follow Me

Luke 18:22
So when Jesus heard these things, He said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”

Our Lord Yshua requires us to come to Him and follow Him. The situation surrounding the verse above is that the rich young ruler was asking about how eternal life. Yshua requires nothing less than our whole selves. He was not against the wealth that people have. Rather, things like wealth and other worldly pursuits can hinder our relationship with Him. His requirement is very simple in a sense, just let go of our worldly things and follow Him.

Where are You staying? Come and see

John 1:38-39
Then Jesus turned, and seeing them following, said to them, “What do you seek?”
They said to Him, “Rabbi” (which is to say, when translated, Teacher), “where are You staying?”
He said to them, “Come and see.” They came and saw where He was staying, and remained with Him that day (now it was about the tenth hour).

The context of this is that John the Baptist's disciples had just turned to follow Jesus, and the above conversation began. This illustrates people who desire to follow Jesus and they are interested about Him, and where He stays so they too may stay with Him. For most cases, our Lord Yshua is very inviting and freely let the people to be with Him. It also shows that following Yshua, is not just about reading and understanding, but it is a way of life. We are to eat with Him, drink with Him, sleep with Him; our whole lives dedicated to live as He lives - that is the challenge.

Lord, I will follow you, but

Luke 9:61
Lord, I will follow you, but...

The Lord requires us to follow Him wholeheartedly. This must not be based on any conditions of our own. Neither can we always use our own understanding to try and judge God's motives before following Him. Perhaps this is what is so amazing about Abraham's faith that we all remember; Abraham left his own country to journey with God to an unknown destination, much later on he was willing to sacrifice his only son even though his promised generation is supposed to come from that son.

Where I am going you cannot follow Me now

John 13
36 Simon Peter said to Him, “Lord, where are You going?”
Jesus answered him, “Where I am going you cannot follow Me now, but you shall follow Me afterward.”

This was the context that prompted Peter to later ask why he cannot follow Jesus at that time. His eagerness and loyalty is exemplarary in this case - he wanted to follow Jesus even though he did not know where Jesus was going. This could be a lesson in faith in comparison with the account of Abraham and Isaac.

However the context here is quite different. The Lord Jesus was not intending to prove Peter's faith to Peter, as was the account with Abraham. Here, Yshua's intention was to reveal to Peter what would happen and prepare him to continue the task after He was gone.

Of course Jesus wanted Peter to be with Him ultimately when Peter's tasks on earth were finished. More importantly, Peter still had much to grow and to receive the Holy Spirit. With Jesus on earth, Peter had the great privilege of learning by example in the ministry of Jesus. When Jesus left, only then can the Holy Spirit come into Peter. It is the Holy Spirit that Peter needed to surrender to and allow Him to empower his life and ministry.

Lord, why can I not follow You now?

John 13:37
37 Peter said to Him, “Lord, why can I not follow You now? I will lay down my life for Your sake.”

Peter at this time did not understand why he cannot follow Jesus. He was impulsive but at this time he was genuinely intending to follow Jesus at the end. The only  problem was that when the situation arise, he was not ready to do so.

To put it to perspective, Peter was already following Jesus for about three years. God knows when we are ready to do certain things and when we are not. God may have chosen us and called us to some specific task, and he has a timing for everything.

As we hear God's assignment for us, we would also need to wait on God's timing to perform them. Going ahead to eagerly out ou our own enthusiasm and own desire to please God, may not necessarily produce the outcome that God intended.