Living in the Spirit

September 4, 2022

Scripture Reading: Luke 14:25-33

Now large crowds were traveling with him; and he turned and said to them, ‘Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not first sit down and estimate the cost, to see whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it will begin to ridicule him, saying, “This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.” Or what king, going out to wage war against another king, will not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to oppose the one who comes against him with twenty thousand? If he cannot, then, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for the terms of peace. So therefore, none of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions.

I turned off the final analysis of the primary runoff that occurred in Oklahoma on August 24 and flipped over to watch a rerun of a Finding Your Roots segment. History grounds me in understanding that many people had to face much worse than I have to deal with. I already knew the results of the races I cared about, and I just did not want to hear all the spin. Sometimes I feel like Elijah and just want to run away and hide. (1 Kings 18:19–19:3) Of course, my situation was not nearly as dire as his.

Jesus is saying in the scripture above that if you choose to follow him, you need to be realistic about the investment needed. The first part of being a Christ-follower is following Christ and not carving out a god that we make in the image we desire. The follow-up is living our faith and examining ourselves regularly to determine if we are, indeed, finishing the tasks to which we committed to Christ. And finally, we must remain in touch with Christ to understand his plan.

Prayer: Lord, forgive us when we let the world’s ways drag us down. Help us to love as you love. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.