“Now large crowds were going along with 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 carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it…So then, none of you can be my disciple who does not give up all his own possessions?"” (Luke 14:25-28)
To me this is a difficult passage of Scripture to comprehend. I have thought about it and here is my thoughts on what Jesus is saying to me...
“You Robert, are a sinner unlike me. I am a unique, one of a kind, never to be cloned man who never sins. So, where I am going you are not qualified to come. And what I am going to do you are not qualified to do. I am going to abandon my Mom, brothers, sisters, and my earthly possessions to die on a cross - for you, a sinner. And doing so will save you. Why am I doing this? Because our Father God is gracious and merciful. He created you and loves you, and saving you is the right thing for Him to do. Count the cost of what I alone have done for you Robert, and realize you do not have the resources to save yourself or anyone else. So, lay down your cross and follow me to mine. I carried My cross to victory - for you and everyone else. And as you ponder what I have done, just say -THANK YOU!” (Robert's paraphrased version)
I no longer self-righteously claim to be a follower of Christ. I followed Christ to His cross where He saved me and my family, but that is as far as we can go for now. We must wait to go where He went after His death, entombment, and resurrection.
I no longer self-righteously claim to be a follower of Christ. I followed Christ to His cross where He saved me and my family, but that is as far as we can go for now. We must wait to go where He went after His death, entombment, and resurrection.
"Simon Peter said to Him, “Lord, where are You going?” Jesus answered, “Where I am going, you cannot follow Me now; but you will follow later.” Peter said to Him, “Lord, why can I not follow You right now? I will lay down my life for You.” Jesus replied, “Will you lay down your life for Me? Truly, truly I say to you, a rooster will not crow until you deny Me three times." (John 13:36-38)
I am no different than Peter. I deny Jesus from time to time in my thoughts and actions. Yet, I have placed my faith and hope in what Jesus did to save me and my family. To be honest, I often feel the same way about myself that Paul felt when he wrote...
"Trustworthy is the saying, and worthy of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the worst." (1 Timothy 1:15)
We sinners should pray for other sinners around us, like Paul encouraged his friend Timothy to do...
"First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people...that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way." (1 Timothy 2:1)
Happy Thanksgiving Season!