Faith
isn’t easy – I wish I could say that it is.
Belief in God, commitment to following the ways of Christ is not
simple. It is challenging and brings
with it some disputes that will likely arise between you and others.
Jesus
was well aware of what problems true faith might bring. What shocking declarations does Jesus
make? What is the conclusion in verse
38?
Such
comments from Jesus himself can cause some discomfort and even discouragement
in believers. Jesus – the one who says
to come to him when we are heavy-laden – has now said that his teachings are
not going to bring about peace. He has
introduced a sword – conflict – to the lives of those who will be committed to
him. He even goes into detail claiming
that members within a family will be at odds with one another, and that we should
not love our parents as much as we love Jesus.
Although
disturbing, there is naturally quite a bit of truth in all this. And I also believe it may not be quite as
literal as we may at first take it.
Should
we love Jesus over everyone else, even our parents? Of course.
We should love God over all things.
But that doesn’t mean we don’t love our parents or others in our family.
Jesus
did bring peace to the world, in spite of what he says in verse 34. We have peace in knowing that God loves us so
much that Jesus was willing to die for us.
But our faith can also be a source of dispute.
If we
will be truly committed to the Lord and our faith it will mean that we must put
God and the good of His kingdom over everything and everyone else. This may cause some clashes between you and
loved ones. Others may want you to have
less faith and pay more attention to what is going on with them. Some may criticize your faith and want you to
be more like everyone else in the world.
We must
be prepared for the occasional dispute and disconnect with loved ones. If we will be completely committed to the
Lord – which we are called to do – then there will likely be those times of
conflict. But this doesn’t mean we don’t
love our family and friends. It just
means we love God more.
We must
take up our cross and follow Jesus. We
must take up our faith in who Jesus was and still is. We must take up our faith in the love of God
and move forward in complete commitment to God in all we do.
DAILY
CHALLENGE: How will you take up your
cross?
This concludes the 10/2 Grow daily devotions
for this spring. We pray that all will
have a safe and happy summer. – Roger and Peggy
