LUKE 14:25-33 – Now great crowds accompanied him, and he turned and said to them, “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. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. 33 So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.

THEME OF THE DAY. DISCIPLESHIP ON HIS TERMS. Today’s scripture is tough. It requires not a fast and mindless reading as part of a yearly Bible reading plan. What it takes is to be visited often, in a secluded place, with no distractions, prayed through with the Lord, and put before us as a mirror to evaluate ourselves in our understanding and living as a disciple of Jesus Christ.

As one reads this, we are brought face-to-face with the description and demands by the Lord Jesus Himself upon those who would be or claim to be His disciples. In the reading of this text, the reasons why this is tough is two-fold. The first is stated by four words from the mouth of Jesus – “cannot be my disciple.” It is repeated three times. The second is implied by the “either/or” nature of these words from our Lord. Let’s break them down.

First, Jesus’ words are tough upon our hearts, minds, and lives because of the unwavering demand He places upon us to be His disciples. He doesn’t lower the bar. He doesn’t allow for any compromise of our commitment to Him in placing any human relationship above Him, in refusing a life of self-denying suffering, and in holding on to material things of the world. It hits us hard because we want the world and the Lord all too often. Jesus says, “No. You are all in with Me or out. The world has no place in Your heart if You want to follow Me.” And we want to hold onto a little of ourselves in too many things and the Lord will not lower the standards to follow Him.

The other reason why this is tough is because it “smacks us in the face” with the true definition of being a Christian. We must be careful that we don’t form our definition of what it means to be a Christian, a disciple, by our own understanding or the water-downed compromised church in the west. Much of contemporary Christianity sees Jesus more as a “Divine Therapist” and helper than the Master of the Universe ruling and controlling our entire lives. Remember, living the Christian life is determined by the Lord, not us, and He never negotiates the terms with us.

There is no greater joy than to be a disciple of Jesus Christ, but it is only a joy known and experienced on His terms, defined by His Word. The words “cannot be my disciple” demands we evaluate ourselves by what we must give up if we are to follow Him.

PRAYER: “Father, help me not be deceived and lower the bar on what it means to be a disciple of Your Son.”

QUOTE: “Jesus negotiates with no one on terms of what it means to be His disciple. We are either all in or all out.”