Day 226- Counting the Cost
📖Daily Reading
Luke 14
Join me on my morning walk as we rise and shine together by walking through the Bible daily and learn a practical applicable coaching nugget from the ultimate life coach - our creator (whatever that means to you). No judgement zone here, all are welcome, we are all on a spiritual journey because we are after all spiritual beings having a human experience.
📝 Reflection
Luke 14: 25-30
“A large crowd was following Jesus. He turned around and said to them, “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. “But don’t begin until you count the cost. For who would begin construction of a building without first calculating the cost to see if there is enough money to finish it? Otherwise, you might complete only the foundation before running out of money, and then everyone would laugh at you. They would say, ‘There’s the person who started that building and couldn’t afford to finish it!’”
“By comparison you must ‘hate’ everyone else”. This is how dedicated, trusting and all in you Jesus is saying we need to be to be his disciples. The example of someone starting a construction project with out a plan, without understanding what it takes and just diving in is a mistake. We must assess where we are, what resources we have, what our willingness is and know what will be required. We need to make informed decisions use our intelligence. He was understanding that many hear the good news and are very inspired, motivated and excited and thinking they are ready to commit their lives, but they don’t really understand what what it all means, what it will require and if they really have the mind set and heart set that they need for the ‘long haul’, to take it to completion, and to be all in.
I like the examples that uses here. I think they are reassuring, at least they are to me personally. He is not telling us ‘no’, he is letting us know that we need to take full stock, look at the big picture, get prepared, etc. If we do all of this and we aren’t ready, that is ok too, we have done the work to get informed and now we know where we need to build up our resources to get ready. Some will hear this and get disheartened, because they may realize they don’t want to go ‘all in’ at this level. Some will just take a deep breath and work our their resolve, set their intention and do the work to take up their crosses.
They will know that the effort is worth it. There are so many promises that we can lean on to keep us going, like; ‘whey you give up your life you will receive it’. Knowing that if I can learn to lean into and have some of God’s supernatural love, that I will actually be able to love others even better than I can on my own. But before I can do this, I have to be willing to let go of my attachment to my role as ‘so and so’s xyz’, we have to let go to receive and to then be able to give from a less ‘egoic’, fickle and self seeking place. This is what is transforming. Realizing that loving God first, actually allows me to love others better than I can on my own. My love is clingy and self serving and sometimes even angry if others are not reciprocating, moody and not meeting my expectations. Which as humans is humanly impossible to meet each others expectations, so we often find ourselves in frustration with at least someone at all times, right?
At first it feels really hard and harsh to hear and accept what Jesus is saying here, which is why he asks us to consider the costs. Get ready, be informed, make the adjustments you need to make. I need you, all of you, forever. If you don’t understand this, you will have a half finished building that is no good to anyone, left abandoned, and know you have spent all your time, energy and resources, for what? He also compares the usefulness to salt if it loses it’s saltiness - it has no usefulness anymore. V. 34-35“Salt is good for seasoning. But if it loses its flavor, how do you make it salty again? Flavorless salt is good neither for the soil nor for the manure pile. It is thrown away. Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand!””
This lesson is not just applicable to our faith, it is a good lesson in lots of areas of life. We often get excited and inspired and we jump into things, then abandon things if they get too hard, or if life ‘happens’, or we get bored etc.. It is good to be excited and inspired, but we should also take time to count the costs before we dive head first into things, or havethe wrong expectations. Life is a long game, be wise, spend your life force, your energy, and your love in a worthwhile and sustainable manner otherwise you become ‘flavorless’...
✍🏼Daily Journal Prompt
How does this resonate with you? Are you someone who just dives in? I am that way, but learning the way desribed above. I used to be fire, ready aim... if you know what I mean...
📖Tomorrows Reading
Luke 15
Coaching Opportunity
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