The Points of My Cross

Today's Reading: Luke 14

Scripture:
"Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be my disciple." Luke 14:27

Observation:
The gift of salvation is a free gift of grace from God to man through Jesus Christ. There is nothing that can be done to earn it. But once grace is received, it is no longer free. It can never be lost, but it will cost something. It is like someone giving you a house. The house was free, but to get the most out of if requires work. If not, the house and property will become rundown and useless.

Application:
God has to be first in my life. He will not share second. There are several times Christ uses the imagery of me needing to carry my own cross. A cross has four points. This morning, I am reminded of three of mine.

The first one is my family. Luke 14:26 is a passage of scripture that I do not like to read. What Jesus is saying is not that I must literally hate my family, but rather He is saying that my love for God should be so much higher than my love for my family that it should seem like hate in comparison. God has to be my first love; even above my wife and kids. An honest assessment of where I spend my emotional energy, my time, my concern, and my resources clearly indicates that I have much work to do on this part of my cross.

The second one is my life. Not my physical life, but my daily existence. That to me is what I hear God saying to me in the parable of the wedding feast as told by Christ in Luke 14:16-24. The Guest who were invited to attend the feast all declined because of the activities of their daily life. Work, possessions, and relationships all interfered with them answering their invitation. This part of my cross means that I am willing to drop anything and everything at a moments notice to pursue an invitation from God.

The third one is my comfort. As I review Luke 14 I see scattered throughout it illustrations that call for me to leave my comforts behind. Some of the things I see Jesus speak to were rules (not healing on the Sabbath), social status (inviting the poor to dinner), and personal achievement (the seat of honor). All these things create consistency and comfort in my life. Jesus' call to me this morning is to throw all these things out of the window and be willing to pursue after God.

Prayer:
Father, I can't do this. The ultimate test of these things is to pretend I lose them then think about how I would feel if that happened and all I was left with was my relationship with You.

As I do that with these three things this morning I realize just how much room there is to for me to grow and I am totally humbled by it. There is simply no way that I can do this on my own. I desperately need Your help. Plastic religion can never replace those three things in my life. I need the "I am" God of Moses to invade my life in a real and tangible way.