Title: The First Love / Topic: Being a Disciple
Today’s Reading: Zechariah 10; Zechariah 11; Zechariah 12; Psalm 126; Luke 14
Scripture: Luke 14:25-27
25 Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: 26 "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple. 27 And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.
Observation: These are some of the most harsh words of Jesus. In these strong words Jesus is saying that if we put the most precious relationships we have in this life, or our own desires for our lives, above our love of Him, we cannot be his disciple. That means if our family members make choices to disobey God's clearly spoken will in the Bible, we must stand with God and let our family go, no matter how much we love them. There is nothing more "ripping" to the soul than this. But neither our children, spouses, nor our parents died to purchase our forgiveness of sins and resoration with God, healing, or any other of the multitudinous benefits He has brought to us through the sacrifice of his own life. We also have "hate our own life" in comparison to loving Jesus. Though he gives us the ability to choose what we want, we have to make choices that are in conformity to His will or we are choosing to not be His disciple.
Application: I believe when loved ones make choices against God we have the responsibility to forgive them, pray for them and to show love to them without compromising God's standards or in any way condoning or approving their behavior. This is heart-wrenching because there is almost always an increased emotional distance between us and them. Sometimes it is so severe that there is no fellowship at all. I have personally experienced this kind of pain and I don't believe there is anything more difficult in life to go through than separation from children. When we go through these experiences we need to cling to God and pray for Him to bring the hearts of family members into alignment with His, so there is first of all restoration between them and God, then restoration is possible between them and us as well.
Prayer: Father, I want my heart to be staid upon you. My first concern is my own standing with you. I need to make sure I myself am not compromising your standards or being "hard-hearted" or rebellious in any way. So show me my heart Lord and reveal my blind spots to me. I want to do your will, God, with a humble, correctable heart. I also want to pray for each of my family members, that they will have the same attitude and an ear to hear your voice speaking to them. May they follow you unreservedly. When they don't, help me to stand with you and receive your comfort in my loss.
This I pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.
2 Comments:
Dear Cynthia,
Thank you for sharing out of your pain. We are called to stand with Jesus. I do think, however, that the instances of this stance that require us to actually take a stand against others are quite few. Most of the time, it seems to me, we are simply to stand (alone, if necessary), as He did, in sacrificial love and grace, with arms open wide. This can be lonely, but if done in His strength, it is empowering and freeing.
Michael
I totally agree with you. The instances where we have to actually take a stand against others are rare indeed. And even when we do have to stand with Jesus, we are always called to have a stance of sacrificial love, forgiveness and "open arms" as you put it. Standing with Jesus never gives us the right to stand in unforgiveness or even pain. We must take our pain to Him and let Him heal us. Otherwise we become useless to God or anyone else because we are only focused on our pain. Then we end up in sin.
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