Are you second?
Luke 14:26-27 “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. 27 And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.
I have begun reading The Cost of Discipleship by Dietrich Bonhoeffer again, and his opening chapter is very gripping on the subject of cheap vs costly grace. The idea of how the church has failed in it’s presentation of God’s grace. God’s grace is free, and through no work can ever be earned, but it does come with a cost. The idea that we may claim, then rest in, that cheap grace is a idea that we may continue to live for the pleasures of sin entangled in this world. That we may rest on the idea we have a free eternal pass from a gracious God. That cheapens the sacrifice He made for you through his Son, Jesus Christ. Can you claim it, then return to your old ways, only to rest on that assurance? Are you sure you obtained a free gift; was your response to it, worthy of it?
This past week I was shown, and failed in, my old sinful ways. Worldly stresses and strains pulled from me to worldly responses. It brought about deep convictions, and the understanding of undeserved Grace. Christ was turning to the large crowd that had began to follow him, they were captured by what they had seen and heard. But yet He turned and asked them if they truly loved him enough to follow Him; he asked them if they would pay the cost of being his disciple. Will you put Him before everyone, and every thing else in your life? It is not a call to hate, but a call of priority. Even to the point your own needs are second. 26 “If you want to be my follower you must love me more than your own father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters — yes, more than your own life. Otherwise, you cannot be my disciple. (NLT) The heart of a disciple is a heart focused on being in the center of God’s Will for their lives; not a heart that desires to bring God to where they want to be. We are not to pray for God to join us in our plans, but to plan to join him where he has laid our foundation for us to build.
I want so bad to move back out into the country to raise my family. God laid it on my heart to sell our home, and I finally was obedient in that calling. In that act of obedience I asked God to join me in the plans I had; I see the err in my ways. I must put my life in His hands; I must join him where he has laid the foundation to build. I must put my family in the center of His Will, wherever that may be. It may be right here; it may be anywhere, but I want it to be in the center of His Will for us. Will you forsake all? Will you place your cross at the feet of Jesus to let him bear the load, or will you try to do it alone? Our ultimate goal in living our lives as a disciple, should be that understanding of Costly Grace, that understanding that all in our lives should be forsaken to follow Him. In a life for Him, we can rest on hearing those words we all hope to hear that Christ spoke of in the parable of the talents; Matthew 25:21 His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’
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