Make the Exchange
Luke 14 tells us…
Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: "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. And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple…In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.”
Rather than offer an excuse, Jesus exhorts us to exchange our lives for his. How do we do this? Three suggestions from the scripture;
1) Put Him First! Vs 26
This verse has concerned many people for many years, because it simply doesn’t sound like the kind of thing that Jesus would say… “Hate your mother and Father”. Surely that can’t be true… doesn’t Jesus say elsewhere in scripture that we are to honor our parents? The meaning of ‘hate’ here is to love less. “Don’t love your family - or anything - more than me”. Jesus’s ethic of love makes it unthinkable that one should hate one's own family. But Jesus uses this hyperbole to accentuate his point. His point is this – I MUST BE FIRST!
Discipleship for these early believers literally meant that they had to be willing to leave home and family, traveling with minimal provisions from village to village, to proclaim the gospel. They had to put Him first.
2) Carry the Cross Doing what we’ve got to do– Vs 27
Carrying the cross was a very literal, painful, and authentic experience for Jesus. There are many persecuted believers around the world who each day face death because of their faith in Jesus Christ. We must be prepared to do this, but I think the foundation of ‘Carrying our Cross’ means committing before God to do what we have to do to please God.
Our walk with Jesus is not solely a ‘feel-good faith’, but a faith that continually puts us in a ‘no pain, no gain’ reality. If you want to be transformed, exchange your will for God’s will. Do what he needs you to do, not what you want to do.
3) Give it all up – Vs33
The old hymn goes “But we never can prove, the delights of his love, until all on the altar we lay. For the favor he shows, and the joy he bestows are for them who will trust and obey.”
We can never fully understand the blessings of God’s love for us until we lay our treasure on the altar before him. 'Give up' means “to say farewell to” and “to take leave of”. It literally means to say bye-bye. Jim Elliot, the famous missionary, articulated why we should give up our possessions in exchange for God’s, as he said, “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose."
Jesus invites you to a party -one that will last forever, one beyond our wildest hopes and imaginations. You can offer an excuse and miss the fun… or you can engage in an exchange. Laying down your stuff and receiving the things of the kingdom.
Make the exchange.
Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: "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. And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple…In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.”
Rather than offer an excuse, Jesus exhorts us to exchange our lives for his. How do we do this? Three suggestions from the scripture;
1) Put Him First! Vs 26
This verse has concerned many people for many years, because it simply doesn’t sound like the kind of thing that Jesus would say… “Hate your mother and Father”. Surely that can’t be true… doesn’t Jesus say elsewhere in scripture that we are to honor our parents? The meaning of ‘hate’ here is to love less. “Don’t love your family - or anything - more than me”. Jesus’s ethic of love makes it unthinkable that one should hate one's own family. But Jesus uses this hyperbole to accentuate his point. His point is this – I MUST BE FIRST!
Discipleship for these early believers literally meant that they had to be willing to leave home and family, traveling with minimal provisions from village to village, to proclaim the gospel. They had to put Him first.
2) Carry the Cross Doing what we’ve got to do– Vs 27
Carrying the cross was a very literal, painful, and authentic experience for Jesus. There are many persecuted believers around the world who each day face death because of their faith in Jesus Christ. We must be prepared to do this, but I think the foundation of ‘Carrying our Cross’ means committing before God to do what we have to do to please God.
Our walk with Jesus is not solely a ‘feel-good faith’, but a faith that continually puts us in a ‘no pain, no gain’ reality. If you want to be transformed, exchange your will for God’s will. Do what he needs you to do, not what you want to do.
3) Give it all up – Vs33
The old hymn goes “But we never can prove, the delights of his love, until all on the altar we lay. For the favor he shows, and the joy he bestows are for them who will trust and obey.”
We can never fully understand the blessings of God’s love for us until we lay our treasure on the altar before him. 'Give up' means “to say farewell to” and “to take leave of”. It literally means to say bye-bye. Jim Elliot, the famous missionary, articulated why we should give up our possessions in exchange for God’s, as he said, “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose."
Jesus invites you to a party -one that will last forever, one beyond our wildest hopes and imaginations. You can offer an excuse and miss the fun… or you can engage in an exchange. Laying down your stuff and receiving the things of the kingdom.
Make the exchange.
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