What are we holding back?

If you are like me, when I read some of the things that Jesus said while He was on earth, I am not always sure I totally get what He is trying to tell me. At times, I find myself asking Him, "Do you really mean what you are saying here?"

I came across one of those scripture passages in my quiet time recently. It was from Luke 14:26-27. The NIV puts it this way:

“If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple. And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple."

My initial reaction in reading this is to push back: I mean, doesn't Jesus command us elsewhere to LOVE our neighbor and even love our enemies? And Paul tells us husbands to love our wives as Christ loved the Church and gave Himself up for her. But here, our Lord is telling us to HATE even our wives and other people? What gives?

I think there is a good explanation that puts it all in proper context. To help see that, consider the New Living Translation's version of these verses:

“If you want to be my disciple, you must, by comparison, hate everyone else—your father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even your own life. Otherwise, you cannot be my disciple. And if you do not carry your own cross and follow me, you cannot be my disciple." (Luke 14:26-27 NLT)

The Amplified Bible has a footnote to the word "hate" found in verse 26 where it says this: "[Hate is] an exaggerated figure of speech indicating a lesser degree of love, not actual hostility or aversion toward one’s earthly family."     

In other words, if we want to be true, wholehearted followers of our Lord, we need to hold nothing back in our love and devotion to Him. He must have ALL our time, ALL our talent, and ALL our treasure. And, if our close relatives object to our total surrender to our Lord, we must still choose to give our ALL to Him.

Easy? Are you kidding me? Doing this is actually IMPOSSIBLE in our flesh! But this same Jesus, who in the Garden of Gethsemane gave all to His Father, can do it in and through us as well, as we trust and obey Him day by day. 

Are you in? Am I? I pray so. Because the last thing we want to do is to come to the "Pearly Gates" with a sense of regret for not having given Him our all. God bless and empower each of us to do that today! ​