"Now great crowds accompanied him, and he turned and said to them, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple." - Luke 12:25-33
When each of us made the faith decision to follow Jesus - to be born again by the Spirit (John 3) our focus was most likely on eternity and forgiveness. But Jesus was explaining what our life should be like in the meantime - while we still have our feet firmly planted on Terra Firma. He was speaking to where our devotion should lie.
If we truly believe that we love God with all of our hearts, minds and souls then that leaves no room for a greater devotion to something or someone else. Like "father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life". His reference to "hate" has to do with comparative devotion. Compared to our total devotion to God, we "hate" everyone else. God is first and everyone else is second or third or ... well you get the idea!
Likewise, when it comes to the things of the world - devotion to wealth, possessions, position, prosperity in general, even our health are not to compete with our devotion to God. I am certain that you are nodding your head - perhaps in your minds - in agreement. If it were not for the fact that we still must struggle with the desires of our flesh, it would be a simple thing to do. But you know that living the sanctified life is far from simple. There is a constant struggle between the old nature and the new. That is because they are incompatible.
"For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world." - 1 John 2:16
I have written before that these are the same points in which Jesus was tempted after he had fasted for 40 days in the wilderness. And he resisted the test. Being a Jesus follower is more than merely being a believer that Jesus is the Christ - the Messiah. It means following in His footsteps. Listen - this is a spiritual issue that manifests itself in the natural. In the Navigator ministry they use something called the Navigator Wheel to explain what we need to do to live the obedient Christian life. The center or Hub is Jesus. The four spokes are prayer, meditation on the Word, witnessing and fellowship with other Christians. Each spoke is important to keep the wheel (you) in balance. The spokes are connected to the Hub (Jesus). It is easy to neglect one or more of those spiritual disciplines. My goal in writing these devotions is to encourage you to keep your spiritual focus.
Think about it – Pray about it – Believe it – Walk in it. Let your light shine and give God the glory.
By Faith Alone By His Grace Alone And For His Glory Alone
No comments:
Post a Comment