Today’s Podcast
Today’s Scriptures
Today’s Bible reading plans include:
Ready – Luke 14:25-35
Set – Zechariah 12; Psalms 126; Luke 14
Go! – Zechariah 10-12; Psalms 126; Luke 14
Luke 14:25-35
25 Great crowds joined Him on His journey, and He turned to them.
Jesus: 26 If any of you come to Me without hating your own father, mother, wife, children, brothers, sisters, and yes, even your own life, you can’t be My disciple. 27 If you don’t carry your own cross as if to your own execution as you follow Me, you can’t be part of My movement. 28 Just imagine that you want to build a tower. Wouldn’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to be sure you have enough to finish what you start? 29 If you lay the foundation but then can’t afford to finish the tower, everyone will mock you: 30 “Look at that guy who started something that he couldn’t finish!”
31 Or imagine a king gearing up to go to war. Wouldn’t he begin by sitting down with his advisors to determine whether his 10,000 troops could defeat the opponent’s 20,000 troops? 32 If not, he’ll send a peace delegation quickly and negotiate a peace treaty. 33 In the same way, if you want to be My disciple, it will cost you everything. Don’t underestimate that cost!
34 Don’t be like salt that has lost its taste. How can its saltiness be restored? Flavorless salt is absolutely worthless. 35 You can’t even use it as fertilizer, so it’s worth less than manure! Don’t just listen to My words here. Get the deeper meaning.
Today’s Devotional
From today’s background scripture God might say:
Some look at the life of My followers and think it will be a life of ease because of the joy they see on their faces. They take the look of joy and peace as a sign of ease without thinking about the real cost of being one of My disciples. That’s what these verses really talk about. Being one of My followers means you will constantly be in the fight of your life against the world. Don’t get Me wrong. You will have incredible joy that the world doesn’t understand, but you will also be at war against the world.
There is and has been a state of war going on between Me and Satan’s evil schemes since he decided he wanted to disobey Me. He has since that time been working to try to win humanity’s hearts and persuade you to follow him instead of Me. I give you a choice as to who you will serve and so exists this constant battle between good and evil since the first time I breathed into Adam his eternal soul.
To engage in this battle on the side of good will take everything you have. To pledge allegiance to Me requires your whole self, all your possessions, all your aspirations, everything. I want all of you or I won’t accept anything. You see, when I gave Moses the commandments on Mount Sinai, I told him I am jealous. I won’t take second place to anyone or anything. I demand 100 percent of you or I won’t accept you at all. That’s the price I demand.
The Marine Corps used to talk about tearing men down to build them over again into the world’s greatest fighting men. When you think about what I want to do for you, think in those terms. I want to make you over again. I want to rebuild you from the inside out. I want to remake you in a new birth. I want to recreate you into the person I imagined you to be when I formed you in your mother’s womb. But to do that, I must have your full and undivided devotion. There can be no greater love in your life. There can be nothing that draws you away from My purpose or My plans for you. I must be not just the center of your life, but your whole life.
So the question comes to you, are you willing to pay the price to live for Me? Are you willing to let Me remake you into the person I want you to become? Are you willing to have the world stand against you as they stood against Me? That is what will happen when you cast your lot with Me. I can promise you the world will not want you to succeed in My kingdom. The world will not want you to overcome with the principles I give you. The world will not believe the message I give you to share.
The cost in following Me is high. It will cost you everything. I can also tell you, though, that the things I give you in return more than make up for the temporary pleasures you might lose from the world’s perspective. Every good gift comes from Me. The temporary sufferings you may experience in this world are nothing compared to the incomparable riches you will receive for following Me. Be aware they do not look like the riches the world offers. They are far better. Trust Me.
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved. In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.