What Jesus Asks Of His Friends A

Once Jesus entered a certain village where a woman named Martha invited

him to her house. She had a sister named Mary who seated herself at

Jesus' feet and listened to his words. But Martha was worried by her

desire to wait on him, and came and said to him, "Lord, do you not care

that my sister has left me to do all the work alone? Tell her to help

me." But Jesus said to her, "Martha, Martha, you are anxious and

troubl d about many things, but few things are necessary, really only

one. Mary has chosen the better part, which shall not be taken away from

her."



Once when Jesus and his disciples were walking along the road, some one

said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go." Jesus said to him,

"The foxes have holes and the wild birds their nests, but the Son of Man

has no place to lay his head." He said to another, "Follow me"; but the

man said, "Let me first go and bury my father." Jesus said to him, "Let

the dead bury their dead, but you go and tell about the Kingdom of God."

Still another said, "I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say

good-by to my people at home." Jesus said to him, "No one who looks back

after having put his hand to the plough is fit for the Kingdom of God."



Once, when crowds were following him, he turned and said to them, "If

any one who comes to me is not willing to give up his father and mother

and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and his very life,

he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not carry his own cross, as he

follows me, cannot be my disciple.



"Who of you, if he wishes to build a tower, does not first sit down and

count the cost, to see whether he has money enough to finish it?

Otherwise, if he has laid the foundation and is unable to finish the

building, all who see it make fun of him and say, 'This man began to

build but could not finish!'"