Commitment
For someone who talked about loving enemies, this talk of hate is weird.
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. “Salt is good; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; they throw it away. Let anyone with ears to hear listen!” - Luke 14:25-35
Has Jesus gone out of character here?
What does he mean that we should hate father and mother, wife and child?
Hate is a tough word. But Jesus isn't talking about hate in the sense of ill will toward others. He explains this in his example of the man who couldn't finish building his home.
The enemy of commitment here is distraction.
When we set out to complete a project, all sorts of distractions come into play, and for most of us, those distractions are other commitments, including family.
Today is a perfect example of a day that should be devoted to family and memories of those who gave their lives for us.
We should not be struggling to complete a project on a day like today, but how many of us have set aside time just for that?
Whether it is a family project or something for the office, we may have intended to get it done earlier, but distractions and other unexpected commitments got in the way, and now, we look at what options we have and guess what? Someone is not going to be happy.
How mean is that?
We don't mean to be mean when we set aside our want-to-dos for our have-to-dos. We just want to get them done so our time will be our own.
So it is with Jesus.
Get to the things you need to do, regardless of who you upset in the process, and then spend time on them, those who benefit from all you do.
Sounds simple?
No, not really, but who doesn't struggle with this decision?
More to come...