No Easy Road
I suspect that the personal experience I’m about to share with you is one that many of you have also endured at one time or another.
Back in 1992, when we found out that Carol was expecting our daughter Brooke, we got serious about purchasing a home with an additional bedroom. Up to that point, we had always either lived in a manse owned by the Church, or we had rented a house. It would be the first time in our marriage that we would join the ranks of those who enjoy the joys and sorrows of home ownership.
A realtor in our Church at that time helped us find the right home, just down the street from the Church where we were serving. It was, in every way, just perfect.
Everything was in order, and the day for the closing finally came. However, the night before the closing day was one of great turmoil and sleeplessness for me. We had never done such a big thing in our whole lives. We had never committed to pay that much money each month. What if something broke down, like the air conditioning system, or it needed some other costly repair in the future? How could we pay for it? After all, the price of the house was a whopping $65,000, and our mortgage payment would be approaching $700 per month! I was a wreck! But we did sign on the dotted line and, as always, the Lord was so gracious and faithful to provide what we needed to get by.
We’ve all experienced that big lump in the throat right before (or just after) making such a big commitment.
As we read the inspired words recorded Luke 14:25-33, we encounter a similar situation that, without a doubt, sparked such a reaction in the throats of those walking along the road with Jesus that day long ago.
In that remarkable setting, Jesus said this:
“If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.”
In other words, our Lord was telling that large crowd that choosing to follow Him as a disciple, not simply as a fan or an onlooker, would be the biggest thing they had ever done! And, it would be very costly indeed! I would imagine that those shocking words would have surely caused a powerful and deep reaction in the pit of everyone’s stomach that day.
But what do our Savior’s words mean, and how are they applied? Are we really to “hate” other people, those closest to us, and even our own lives, if we are to be His disciples?