Heavy

“If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be My disciple. And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow Me cannot be My disciple. In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be My disciple.” (Luke 14:26–27, 33, NIV 1984).

My Musings – This is some pretty “heavy” stuff. As in deep, hard to deal with, or hard to understand. But Jesus does not literally mean that one must “hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life.” He is using hyperbole, an extravagant exaggeration, to drive home the point that He must come first. That the cost can be high. That if comes to choices, we would “give up everything…even [our] own life” and choose Him. After all, that is what He did in order to choose us.

My Advice – Still, the cross we are asked to carry could be “heavy,” as in hard to bear, burdensome, harsh, or oppressive. But high cost comes with high reward. “Everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life.” (Matthew 19:29, NIV 1984).

In retrospect, it’s not so heavy after all, however we mean it. “Therefore, we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So, we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” (2 Corinthians 4:16–18, NIV 1984).