The 40 Day Journey - Day 16 (Obedience)

Disclaimer: I was hoping God would tie all that I learned this week into a neat little bow to top off another week of listening to Him.  I have typed and deleted enough words for 100 more blog posts tonight.  I debated even publishing what follows.  But by faith, I am putting it out there. I guess I am saying all this because there is so much more to these portions of scriptures.  This is just a small morsel as we taste and see that the Lord is good.

A crazy thing happened as we were driving home from Gig Harbor last week. Mt. Rainier was right in front of us. Then as we approached the bridge it moved!  It was on our left.  Of course the mountain didn't move, just our view of it changed.  If you've ever kayaked on American Lake the same thing happens, the mountain seems to move.

So as I have looked at Luke 14 more times than I can count this week, the truth of it hasn't changed. I just think God has me looking at it from a different perspective now.

I came across the above verse earlier this week and it has stuck with me.  Of course the Keith Green song also keeps playing in my mind.  The verse says, to obey is better than sacrifice. As I consider the cost to follow Christ, it equates with sacrifice for me.  This verse says obedience is better than sacrifice. So if we are to sacrifice for Christ, how much better is it then to obey Him?  Is that what God is showing me?

So do we just obey for the sake of obeying?  Remember when your mom would ask you to do something and she would say "Just obey me" and we would follow up with every parent's favorite question, "Why?!".  To be countered with the famous, "Because I said so".  I have sometimes thought of God in this same way.  The bible says to obey, so I will because He says so.

As I looked up verses on obedience I noticed many of them had promises attached (maybe all of them??).  Act 5:32 promises the Holy Spirit to those that obey.  Hebrews 5:9 promises eternal salvation to those who obey.  In Genesis 6 God promises to establish a covenant with Noah if he obeys and builds the ark.  There are many more examples.

So maybe we obey and count the cost not just because God says so, but so we can receive His promises.  That sure seems selfish though. Which would apparently work for me.  But we also live by faith and somehow this fits in too. Without faith it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6), even with our obedience.  So it must take faith to obey God.  And we believe that He rewards those that seek Him.  But again, it can't be for the reward, right?

Luke 14:27 says, "Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be my disciple."  This verse says to carry our own cross, it must look different for each of us.  What God has asked of me is not what He has asked of you.  I must take up my own cross and follow Him. How do I do that?  By being obedient.  Christ was obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.  And why?  For the joy set before Him....for the promise.  (See Philippians 2 and Hebrews 12:2)

Christ could not have been motivated to obey out of selfishness, to obey for the reward.  He was God after all, probably doesn't get much better than that.  But I wonder if He was strengthened by the promise?  The promise of eternal life for you and for me gave Him strength to endure the greatest cost to anyone ever.

I do still think it is important to consider the cost in following Christ, but more importantly I think we need to obey Him.  Even if we don't understand.  And we can only obey Him by our faith in Him. May His promises strengthen us as we journey together this road of obedience set before us.

The 40 Day Journey - Day 14 (When to Count the Cost)

So I am still trying to understand Luke 14:25-35 and what is this "cost" all about in following Christ. Here is the bullet point version of this passage:

• We cannot be Christ's disciple unless we hate our family
• If we do not carry our own cross and follow Him we cannot be His disciple
• An example of someone wanting to build a tower, don't they sit down first and calculate the cost to see if they can complete it?  If they don't they will be ridiculed
• Parable of the king going to battle with 10,000 going up against 20,000, he sits down and takes counsel if they are strong enough or else to decide to send out a delegation and asks for terms of peace
• No one can be His disciple who does not give up all his own possessions
• Then it ends with this, "Salt is good, but if it becomes tasteless...it is useless"

These seem a little random to me, the thread that I thought was throughout was counting the cost and being prepared.  So my big question today was "when" do we count the cost?  It doesn't make sense to count the cost before becoming a believer. When Jesus called His disciples, He said "follow Me" and they dropped what they were doing and followed Him.  

So then do we count the cost after we become believers, but how do we even know the cost? I knew this is what I needed to talk to God about during our hour...if only I could be quiet long enough to hear His voice.

I was in Tacoma and was ready for my hour. I got in my car and asked God for a meeting place.  I felt like He was asking me for my ideal place.  I figured a cup of coffee by the water on this gorgeous day sounded perfect.  So I headed down to the Vashon Ferry Landing.

I parked and read through the Luke 14 passage, I looked up some of the Greek words and cross references.  Then I got out and stood by the water.  I always look for seals or dolphins or whales...I've seen an occasional seal and once some dolphins. I talked with God for awhile and asked Him to explain the "when" to me of this passage.  I then heard a very familiar sound, a high pitched whistling. I knew it was an eagle call and immediately looked around.  There were two eagles perched atop this flag pole.

I remembered reading that eagles stay together for life.  They are committed to one another.  Ah, is that what You are saying about this passage?  I don't need to worry about the when of counting the cost, but maybe what I need to understand is the full commitment God wants from me.

If we look at the verses, Christ wants us committed to Him above our family and our own life.  He wants us committed to finishing what He has started in us, to commit to the battle before us, to commit our earthly treasures.  And why does He want our full commitment?  Because salt is good. We are the salt of the earth, we are the flavor of Christ in this world.  And if salt loses its taste, what good is it?  It is useless.  If we are not fully committed to Christ, what good are we?  

Revelation 3:16 says "So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot or cold, I will spit you out of My mouth."  Hot and cold water have great uses....lukewarm water is useless.  Commit to being fully hot or fully cold, be used for your intended purpose.

I asked Him several times if this is what He was showing me today, I thought through each of those bullet points above.  It seems to be right.  I stared at those eagles for a majority of the rest of our time together.  I really felt He was confirming this truth to me as I watched them.  Our time went by too quickly and I was off to attend to the rest of the day.

I picked up the kids and we went to watch some friends play soccer.  As we were leaving, Daniel picked up a torn section of a dollar bill and handed it to me.  I said, "Where is the rest?  This is useless."  And I just smiled and laughed. God said "Exactly."  It was a picture of the truth He was teaching me.  A partial dollar is useless, I might as well throw it out.  A partial commitment to the Lord, holding onto things of this world while trying to love God is useless.  He requires a full commitment.  And that is the cost to us.

I don't know that I fully understand this yet.  I have more days of being partially committed than fully committed, does that mean I have been useless?  What we need to understand is most of this section of scripture is a parable.  One of our pastors taught me that a parable is a story that is designed to make a point and draw out an intended response. (Thanks Pastor Reg!)

I don't want to dissect each piece unnecessarily. But what is the point of this portion of Luke 14? And what is the intended response?  What I think God wanted to clarify today for me is that no matter the cost, am I willing to be "all in"?  Will I be fully committed to following Jesus? Will He be above my family, my possessions, my comfort. 

I heard a new song, "Let Go" by Elevation Worship.  Some of the lyrics say:

Your love it better than anything this world has to offer, than anything this world has to give.  So I let go, I leave it all behind, let go - I'm taking up Your life, all for Your name, even if it costs me everything. I surrender all, I surrender all to Jesus, I surrender all.

And I guess that is it, that we may know there is nothing this world has to offer that is better than the love of Christ Jesus.  So I will surrender all, every day.  And maybe that is what being fully committed looks like.

The 40 Day Journey - Day 13 (What is the Cost?)

I am still wrestling with this idea of counting the cost.  The passage I've been reading and rereading is Luke 14:25-35.  This passage has to make sense with the rest of scripture, it is impossible for God's Word to contradict itself, so I've been searching other passages also.

Thinking about the word cost, I have come to the conclusion that in order for there to be a cost, it must be something valuable.  For example, it wouldn't "cost" me anything to give up tomatoes and mushrooms.  I could go the rest of my life happy to never see either one again.  Ask me to give up coffee and chocolate, well...that would be a whole other story.

So when we think of the kingdom of God, if He is asking us to count the cost, it seems to me that we are speaking of something of great worth.  Is it costly for me to follow Jesus? What am I giving up?  Anything tangible I have to give is temporary, what God values are things that will last for eternity, things that moths and rust cannot destroy.

Let's see if this illustration works to help this make sense.

I can barely even look at this picture!

Today I gave blood.  Now I seriously am a ridiculous wimp.  I cannot stand giving blood.  During the drive to the bloodmobile, I have to do the whole "self talk" routine.  You know it right?  This will be fine, this is not a big deal, take a deep breath, relax, it will be quick.  I seriously cannot even watch them put the needle in my arm.  In fact today, the nurse pulled out all the equipment and went for my arm.  I looked out that little trailer window into the parking lot forcing myself to relax.  And she began to poke me.  It was taking forever (and it hurt!) and then there was finally some relief. I turned to look quickly and realized she had just used that little plastic straw to mark my vein before she put on the iodine!

Anyway, in light of "counting the cost", it would seem the cost in me giving blood would be my discomfort (and slight terror of needles), my time out of my day, etc.  But those things aren't of any real value.  What if the cost is that person that would die without a blood transfusion.  Let's say I was the only one that could give blood to a specific person and I chose not to give.  The cost would be high if it meant death for that person. (thankfully this is not the case!)

Do you get my struggle?  If we want to be selfish and live our lives for ourselves, the cost is high in that lost opportunity to love another for the sake of Christ.  Do I consider those costs?

Thinking again about the movie last night - The Drop Box.  Had Pastor Lee not followed Christ, the cost would be the death of those abandoned babies.  If he had not followed Christ and cared for kids with disabilities and deformities, the message of their great value would not have reached the rest of the world through this movie.

In 1 Samuel 15:22 we read, "to obey is better than sacrifice".  So the slight sacrifices we make are nothing then in comparison to our obedience which has eternal value.

I am going to have to let this thought ruminate.  I have a completely different direction in this process for God tomorrow.  I am hoping He will somehow peel away the misunderstandings and leave only truth. And that this truth will set us free to live the life He has called us to live.

The 40 Day Journey - Day 11 (The Cost)

It is a brand new week on my 40 Day Journey.  Yesterday was a welcomed Sabbath Day. How good it was to be in the House of the Lord.  I asked God to refresh me yesterday and give me direction for this week as I seek Him.

While last week was difficult exploring brokenness, it was really good to spend several days considering what the Lord was revealing.  Letting the Truth take root.  I asked God if there was something for this week.

This is what kept coming to mind.  We can be tempted to "sell" Christianity through stories of grace, joy, hope, and love.  We promise a better tomorrow. Then once we start walking with Christ we are met with trials, persecution, and suffering.

Are we doing anyone a favor by not sharing the cost of following God?  I don't know.  If we told unbelievers what was in store for them in this life, would they run in the opposite direction?

So this week, I really want to hear from God what it costs to follow Him.  Will I truly understand or appreciate what I have if I don't know the cost?

I have no idea the path God will lead me down this week, what I will explore or find. Again, I enter this time by faith, not knowing what will be revealed.  I do trust that as I call to Him, He will answer me. (Jeremiah 33:3)

I hadn't planned on including songs each time, but I came across this one.  It is my hope I can sing this with full conviction at the end of this week.

The Cost by Rend Collective Experiment