July 10, 2007

why do we make it so hard

Today I'm feeling a lot of sympathy for the lawyer in Luke 10. I'm realizing just how difficult we make this following God thing. Having preached two of the last three weeks on the cost of discipleship, I'm thinking that a lot of that cost is perceived, it is not real. I'm thinking I make it a lot harder than it really is, sorta like the lawyer.

Jesus is clear throughout this run through Luke that following his Way will come with a cost; pick up your cross daily, lose your life for my sake, no where to lay your head, don't look back, proclaim the Kingdom of God is near, etc. These all look like pretty serious costs as I read them from a worldly perspective, but if the question on my lips is "what can I do to inherit the eternal life?" or better yet, "what can I do to follow you Jesus?" All of a sudden the perspective is changed. I'm not just throwing my life away, picking up an instrument of torture, and sauntering off without saying goodbye to family and friends. Instead, I'm following the Way of the King. I'm inheriting the life that God wanted humanity to have from the beginning. I am in a personal relationship with the Trinity.

The cost, in reality, is a simple one to bear. Adding up all the perceived costs it comes down to "love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself." That's not much of a real cost at all. Sure it'll mean some annoyances. Sure it'll man getting stepped on by some people some time. Sure it'll mean some tough conversations as we call another to accountablity, but that's it; the cost is only love. Being created in the image of God we have plenty of love to give away; perhaps even infinite love to give away. The cost just isn't that high. Now, if I can just convince myself that it really isn't that hard.

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