Today’s readings:
Luke 14: 28-33 “But don’t begin until you count the cost. For who would begin construction of a building without first getting estimates and then checking to see if there is enough money to pay the bills? Otherwise you might only complete the foundation before running out of funds. And then how everyone would laugh at you! They would say, “There’s the person who started that building and ran out of money before it was finished? Or what king would ever dream of going to war without first sitting down with his counselors and discussing whether his army of ten thousand is strong enough to defeat the twenty thousand soldiers who are marching against him? If he is not able, then while the army is still far away, he will send a delegation to discuss terms of peace. So no one can become my disciple without giving up everything for me.”
Psalms 120 – A song for the ascent to Jerusalem. Page 957 in my Bible 😉
When I read these versus of Luke, 28-32 were kind of simple to understand. Do some serious research and seek wise counsel before making a MAJOR decision. OK, I get that and it makes sense. However, I can’t be a disciple of Jesus without giving up EVERYTHING for him. When I read this, my first thought always goes to ‘I have to sell all that I have and become a missionary in a country that doesn’t know Jesus and have my family live off the land until we convert everyone to Christ followers.’ Then I read the verses prior to our reading today. There were great crowds following Jesus. He starts off: “If you want to be my follower….” Then he puts it to them in this modern day term: you have to be, “All in!” There’s no, “Let’s give this a try and see if this works out.” You must be willing to put all of your trust in Jesus and who he says that he is.
I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t know fully what that means. Again, I often go back to my earlier statement about becoming a missionary…and He does call some to that position. In my simple view, I think it means to put Jesus first. Exodus 20:3, “You shall have no other gods before Me.” After self-examination, do you? If you do, how do you fix that? Jesus loves you no matter where you’re at…how will you love him back today? May God bless your 20th day of June, 2018!
MT