Large crowds were going with
him. He turned and said to them, “If you come to me, and don’t disregard your own
father, mother, spouse, children, brothers, sisters, and, yes, your very own life,
you can’t be my disciple. Unless you bear your own cross, and come after me, you
can’t be my disciple. Which of you, desiring to build a tower, doesn’t first
sit down and count the cost, to see if you have enough to complete it? Or
perhaps, when you have laid a foundation, and are not able to finish, everyone
who sees begins to mock you, saying, ‘This one began to build, and wasn’t able
to finish.’ Or what king, as he goes to encounter another king in war, will not
sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him
who comes against him with twenty thousand? Or else, while the other is yet a
great way off, he sends an envoy, and asks for conditions of peace. So unless you
renounce all you have, you can’t be my disciple.
Reflection
Like some of Jesus’ other
sayings, these words are not so much hard to understand as hard to follow. We
are more familiar with a kind of “easy believism” in many churches: if you accept
the church’s beliefs, provide financial support, and attend worship you will be
a good Christian. Is this the kind of commitment you’ve made? What would need
to happen for you to make a deeper commitment to be a disciple?
Prayer: Show me, Lord, what
holds me back from becoming what you have created me to be.
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