Luke 14:25-34
The Cost of Being a Disciple
25 Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: 26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple. 27 And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.
28 “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? 29 For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, 30 saying, ‘This person began to build and wasn't able to finish.’
31 “Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Won’t he first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? 32 If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. 33 In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples.
34 “Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again?
John 14:27
Peace from Another World
27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
Psalm 103:1-22
Of David.
1 Praise the Lord, my soul;
all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
2 Praise the Lord, my soul,
and forget not all his benefits—
3 who forgives all your sins
and heals all your diseases,
4 who redeems your life from the pit
and crowns you with love and compassion,
5 who satisfies your desires with good things
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
6 The Lord works righteousness
and justice for all the oppressed.
7 He made known his ways to Moses,
his deeds to the people of Israel:
8 The Lord is compassionate and gracious,
slow to anger, abounding in love.
9 He will not always accuse,
nor will he harbor his anger forever;
10 he does not treat us as our sins deserve
or repay us according to our iniquities.
11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his love for those who fear him;
12 as far as the east is from the west,
so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
13 As a father has compassion on his children,
so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him;
14 for he knows how we are formed,
he remembers that we are dust.
15 The life of mortals is like grass,
they flourish like a flower of the field;
16 the wind blows over it and it is gone,
and its place remembers it no more.
17 But from everlasting to everlasting
the Lord’s love is with those who fear him,
and his righteousness with their children’s children—
18 with those who keep his covenant
and remember to obey his precepts.
19 The Lord has established his throne in heaven,
and his kingdom rules over all.
20 Praise the Lord, you his angels,
you mighty ones who do his bidding,
who obey his word.
21 Praise the Lord, all his heavenly hosts,
you his servants who do his will.
22 Praise the Lord, all his works
everywhere in his dominion.
Praise the Lord, my soul.
Matthew 19:21-22
Sell Everything You Have and Give to the Poor
21 Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
22 When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.
John 3:16-17
God LOVES the World
16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
Jesus completely knows God...He was sent by God and is God in the flesh...If anyone knows the mind of God, it is His Son, Jesus...He knows more about God than anyone ever has...And He completely made God the central and complete focus of His life, as He traveled around in His three year ministry...
I have asked myself do I completely want to know God?...It really is a simple question...I believe the Great Saints did, and they knew that really knowing God comes at a cost, to the way we live on earth, and the way we think about our current lives here on earth...And maybe it is the importance of what we view as comforts and being comfortable come very much into our decision of completely wanting to know God...Complete faith, complete hope, and complete love is what we say we often want, but is it really -when we get down to really thinking about it?...Sometimes I think I have only a partial faith, and I only want Him partially in my life...Otherwise, why don't I give up and completely do what He tells us to do to and completely follow Him?..G. W. Chesterton's quote about how difficult Christianity is and why many people do not try His religion...It is hard, and some just find it very difficult to even try...Chesterton said, "Christianity has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and not tried."...And knowing these things it is easier just to live on earth as we do, and go about doing the things you want to do and what you feel is right, and forget about the difficult things Jesus teaches us...But in doing things our way, we miss so much...
The more and more and more you read and study about God can often bring an aloofness in the eyes of others, I think...Before following Him, Jesus tells us to think about these things...Jesus says that, “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be My disciple...And whoever does not carry their cross and follow Me cannot be My disciple...“Suppose one of you wants to build a tower...Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it?...For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, saying, ‘This person began to build and wasn't able to finish.’...“Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king...Won’t he first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand?...If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace...In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be My disciples....“Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? ...Jesus is telling us how we must put Him and His Father first, and what we will give up when we follow Him...Putting God and His Son first in our earthly lives comes with a cost...The Saints put God and Jesus first and everything else was a distant second...Completely following Truth has a great earthly cost...And His comfort is not an earthly comfort, but a peace from above...It is a peace different from this world...So, I think we look at how and what we have and do then we try to imagine the eternal and the Spiritual and because we cannot touch and feel and see the eternal and Spiritual our decisions get made on this earthly basis...
C. S. Lewis said this about God, and letting Him completely be at work in our lives, “Imagine yourself as a living house...God comes in to rebuild that house...At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing...He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on; you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised...But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make any sense...What on earth is He up to?...The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of - throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards...You thought you were being made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace...He intends to come and live in it Himself.”...
We only want an earthly remodeling job, but He wants the palace in heaven...He wants us to be like His Son...We can see how being a little closer to Him will help us, but we find it difficult to give Him our everything, and also to give Him everything we have...
But God knows our flaws...And we are His children...And like a Good Father, He wants to take care of His children...King David wrote about this in one of his Psalms...As a father has compassion on his children,
so the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him and love Him; for He knows how we are formed and who we are, He remembers that we are just dust...The life of His children is like grass, they flourish like a flower of the field; the wind blows over it and life is gone quickly by, and its place remembers it no more...But from everlasting to everlasting the Lord’s LOVE is with those who fear Him and love Him, and His righteousness with their children’s children—with those who keep His covenant and remember to obey His precepts and His teachings...The Lord has established His throne in heaven, and His kingdom rules over all the universe...Praise the Lord, as His angels do, you mighty ones who do His bidding, who obey His word...God LOVES His Children...That is why He sent His Son into this world to die for our flaws and imperfections...