In focusing on what it means to be a disciple of
Jesus, we have seen from Luke 14:25-33 that He expects loyalty to Himself above
even that found in the closest human relationships. He must be the disciple’s first love. But that isn’t all. He also expects disciples to put Him above themselves.
As we look deeper into how Jesus defined being a disciple, notice in verse 27 that He said, “Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.” For those living under Roman rule in the time of Christ, it was not uncommon to see a small contingent of soldiers leading a man away carrying a cross. Everyone knew exactly what it meant. That man would not be coming back. He was sentenced to die.
But Jesus said a disciple is to carry his own cross, not a Roman cross. On another occasion He said, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me (Luke 9:23).” From this we understand that following Christ means death to self, yielding all plans, ambitions, desires and aspirations to Him, and not just as a one-time action, but daily.
Why daily? Because we easily forget our promises and commitments and need daily to renew them and choose again to put Him first. We can be so quickly distracted by lesser goals than walking in obedience to Him (I speak from experience!) and losing our first allegiance. The apostle Paul wrote, “Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires (Gal 5:24).”
There is still another test of being yielded to Jesus as Lord that every disciple is required to pass. Here’s how He said it in the Luke passage, "So then, none of you can be My disciple who does not give up all his own possessions (Luke 14:33).” Does that mean we all should take a vow of poverty? Not necessarily, but by comparison to the eternal value we have in Christ our possessions are as nothing and should have little influence in our walk with Him. But the truth is that things can become very appealing and cause us to lose sight of our higher calling in Him, which is a very good reason to renounce them.
In this age in which we live there are many things we need for daily living, but God has promised to provide these for His children. It all seems to boil down to priorities. Jesus told His disciples to “…seek first the kingdom of God and its righteousness and all these things will be added to you (Matthew 6:33).”
For me, the image I keep seeing in this requirement to abandon our possessions is the open hand. Whatever God has given us, we must hold with a hand that is continually open to Him. He may give and He may take away, but along with Job, whom God allowed to lose everything, mature disciples have learned to say, “Blessed be the name of the Lord.”
To quickly recap, then, a disciple of Jesus is someone who has chosen to follow Him, placing Him at the head of every relationship, yielding his will and desires to Him and making Him the owner of all that he has.
But, you may ask, who are the ones that have been called to become disciples? Great question, but we'll have to wait until the next post to tackle that one.
As we look deeper into how Jesus defined being a disciple, notice in verse 27 that He said, “Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.” For those living under Roman rule in the time of Christ, it was not uncommon to see a small contingent of soldiers leading a man away carrying a cross. Everyone knew exactly what it meant. That man would not be coming back. He was sentenced to die.
But Jesus said a disciple is to carry his own cross, not a Roman cross. On another occasion He said, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me (Luke 9:23).” From this we understand that following Christ means death to self, yielding all plans, ambitions, desires and aspirations to Him, and not just as a one-time action, but daily.
Why daily? Because we easily forget our promises and commitments and need daily to renew them and choose again to put Him first. We can be so quickly distracted by lesser goals than walking in obedience to Him (I speak from experience!) and losing our first allegiance. The apostle Paul wrote, “Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires (Gal 5:24).”
There is still another test of being yielded to Jesus as Lord that every disciple is required to pass. Here’s how He said it in the Luke passage, "So then, none of you can be My disciple who does not give up all his own possessions (Luke 14:33).” Does that mean we all should take a vow of poverty? Not necessarily, but by comparison to the eternal value we have in Christ our possessions are as nothing and should have little influence in our walk with Him. But the truth is that things can become very appealing and cause us to lose sight of our higher calling in Him, which is a very good reason to renounce them.
In this age in which we live there are many things we need for daily living, but God has promised to provide these for His children. It all seems to boil down to priorities. Jesus told His disciples to “…seek first the kingdom of God and its righteousness and all these things will be added to you (Matthew 6:33).”
For me, the image I keep seeing in this requirement to abandon our possessions is the open hand. Whatever God has given us, we must hold with a hand that is continually open to Him. He may give and He may take away, but along with Job, whom God allowed to lose everything, mature disciples have learned to say, “Blessed be the name of the Lord.”
To quickly recap, then, a disciple of Jesus is someone who has chosen to follow Him, placing Him at the head of every relationship, yielding his will and desires to Him and making Him the owner of all that he has.
But, you may ask, who are the ones that have been called to become disciples? Great question, but we'll have to wait until the next post to tackle that one.
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