Luke 14:25-35 Reading Through the NT 2015

Continue to read Luke, chapter 14, verses 25-35.

Jesus was talking to a large crowd, and began to teach them what it meant to be His disciple. He wanted them to be sure of what they were doing before committing to following Him completely. The first thing He said was that our loyalty must be to Him alone. No other relationship was more important, including our families. When He said that we must hate our families, the actual Greek word meant “to love less.” Our love for God must be stronger than our love for our relatives and friends. We must also love God more than ourselves. This is the cost of discipleship. Are we willing to take up our cross to follow Him? We might face persecution and suffering, just as Jesus did. We need to be prepared to be rejected or abused for standing up for what we believe. This is the price for being associated with Jesus, and He wanted us to know ahead of time that part of being His follower might include difficult times.

Jesus then told a couple of stories to illustrate His message. He encouraged people to sit down and plan for a building project before beginning the actual construction. That way they would know if they had the funds to complete the building. If they didn’t make plans, they might not have the money to finish it, and they would be shamed in their community. Before committing their lives to Jesus, the crowd needed to think about what it might mean to them, and decide if they could pay the price to follow Him. Some of them were faithful only when things went well, but when they saw other believers being persecuted and rejected, they turned their backs on God, for they feared for their lives. In today’s world, there are Christians being persecuted for standing up for what they believe. We are fortunate in America to have the freedom to worship and talk about our faith with others.  Would you be brave and stick to your faith if you knew you would be put in prison or beaten for sharing it with people? This is the challenge Jesus was putting before this crowd.

The second story told of a king contemplating going to war with another king. He looked at his troops and saw that he had only half as many men as the other king. He wisely decided to send a delegation to negotiate the terms for a peaceful settlement between them. We have a powerful God, who is Lord over angel armies. We can come to Him in peace, rely on His strength and allow the Holy Spirit to work on our behalf against the enemy. The only requirement for us is to surrender our whole life to Him. Verse 33 states that if we do not give up everything we have, we cannot be His disciples. This sacrifice is for our own good. To be His disciple, we must be willing to put our lives in His hand and trust Him for everything. We need to put Him first, for He is our source of life and spiritual well-being.

The last section of this passage talked about salt. Salt was very important in this culture, and was good only as long as it remained salty. When it lost its’ flavor, it was thrown away. Some of the uses for salt were as a catalyst for a fire, a seasoning for food, a preservative and a fertilizer. Once the saltiness was gone, it became useless. Is your devotion and love for God losing it’s flavor? Is your faith stronger today than it was yesterday, or have you let it fade into the background of your life, crowded out with busy-ness and prioritizing other things or people? To stay salty, we must cultivate our relationship with Jesus and put Him first in our life. We need to be in His Word, spend time alone with Him and take the good news of the gospel to everyone we know and meet. When we are “on fire” for the Lord, amazed at His goodness and more in love with Him everyday, we sprinkle salt wherever we go, and it seasons those around us with His grace and mercy. When we show kindness and generosity towards others, and are willing to serve unselfishly, the world will see God’s work in action.

Jesus wanted this crowd to know all of these things, and to listen carefully before making any decisions about following Him. His last statement, “whoever has ears to hear, let them hear,” reminded them to heed His warning about counting the cost. To be His disciple was expensive, and when they chose to follow Him completely, they would lose everything they had in order to gain what He offered. In placing their faith and trust in Him, they would be saved for eternity no matter what happened to them on earth. We also have this hope, and as we trust Him, we can be confident that He is with us and will never fail us. Jesus wants all of us, not just the little bits we give Him when we have time. Coming to Him fully surrendering everything we are and have is what a true disciple looks like. Are you following Him like this today? Listen and hear what He has to say to you. He is willing and able to do more than we can ask or imagine! All praise to Him today.

Mark 9:30-50 Reading Through the NT 2015

Finish reading chapter 9 of Mark, verses 30-50.

Jesus, as He continued to travel with His disciples, tried to avoid crowded places so He could spend time teaching His men all He wanted them to know. Once again He talked about His coming fate, and this time added that He would be betrayed. The disciples did not get what He was talking about, and murmured among themselves, not wanting to seem clueless. As we read the teachings of Jesus in the Bible, we sometimes may not fully understand them. If that happens, there are countless resources available to help us get a better grasp of what He said and did. We can ask other people, research online Bible sites, read commentaries and articles about a passage, and pray and ask the Holy Spirit to illuminate Jesus’ Words. The more we explore the Bible, the more we will understand what Jesus taught, who He was, and our relationship with Him will deepen.

The disciples’ sidebar conversations continued as this group made its’ way to Capernaum. Jesus wanted to know what they were talking about, and they didn’t want to admit that they were arguing about who was the greatest among them. In His infinite wisdom, Jesus knew this, and began a lesson on leadership. The one who desired to be first must take last place, and be the servant of everyone else. This was not the normal model of leadership. In those days, just as it is today, a leader was taught to strive for the top place, to be the boss, and to climb the ladder of power and authority over others. Jesus followed this by scooping up a little child, and using him to teach about status in God’s Kingdom. Children were insignificant in that culture, which made this a great object lesson. Jesus wanted to emphasize that like insignificant children, people with no status, that seem like nothing in the world, were welcome in His Kingdom. If we welcomed these people, we welcomed Jesus, and subsequently welcomed God Himself, the One who sent Him. To be a leader in God’s eyes, we must be a servant. We must be willing to humble ourselves and look to the good of others first. Jesus was and is the perfect model to follow. We saw a few verses back, the “real” Jesus, transfigured on the mountain in all His glory. He could have stayed in that exalted position, but chose to humble Himself, come to us and abide with us so we might know Him. He knew what He was sent here to do, and He did it willingly. He had the end in mind. He knew the final outcome of His earthly life. His mindset was always on us – for without His sacrifice, we would all be lost. Such great love. It should humble us, as we learn to serve others like He did!

John, the beloved disciple, complained that there were people using Jesus’ name to cast out demons. Jesus told him that they were on the same side. The world is divided into two camps – those for God and those against Him. These people, though not in the inner circle of disciples, were still under God’s authority and performed miracles in His name. They needed to accept these followers, and not shut them down. Are we shutting down people who worship differently than we do? Are we turning our noses up at different churches, who might not look like ours? If they are truly doing God’s work, in Jesus’ name, we need to bond together as the body of Christ. We are on the same side. Our differences are not essential to the bigger picture of telling the world about Jesus. Our goal is the same – to teach about the Kingdom of God and bring people to a place where they put their faith and trust in Christ. If that is not what we see them doing, then they are on the other side and should be rejected.

We need to get rid of anything that causes sin – whether it is influencing others, or our own behaviors. That is what Jesus taught at the end of this chapter. Sin is serious, and takes us away from God. It turns our focus to ourselves, and it becomes a huge burden in our lives, just as a millstone would be if hung around our necks. We need to throw off any sin that entangles us! We need to put on the attributes of Christ, beginning with love! Jesus said in verse 49 that we will all be tested. We need to keep our witness salty – not bland, fervently crusading for Jesus in a fallen world. Sprinkle more of Jesus into your everyday life – and into the lives of others. Taste and see that He is good. He is the hope for us, hope for eternal rewards and for life everlasting.