What to do with God’s stuff?
MEMORY VERSE
“In the same way, those of you who do not
give up everything you have cannot be my disciples.” Luke 14:33
REFLECTION
This is one of
Jesus' most shocking statements. It is also a teaching that is rarely preached
on. If you've never given much thought to this command or you're confused by
what Jesus meant, try to read The Invitation-the Not So Simple Truth about
Following Jesus by Greg Sidders. In this book, he makes Jesus’ clear
statement even more clear for those who truly desire to obey. He
writes,
So
we have to be willing to give up our possessions if Jesus tells us to? No, we
have to actually do it, because he already told us to; “Any of you who does not
give up everything he has cannot be
my disciple.” The word “willing” is not
there, not even in the Greek. (p.74-75)
Does
giving up mean giving away? Do we
have to actually become penniless and possessionless in order to follow Jesus?
. . .Your money and possessions are now “someone else’s property” (Luke 16:12).
Whose? His. You gave it all to him when you became a Christian. And what did he
do with it? He handed it back to you – not to spend on yourself, but to invest
for him. You no longer have the right to do with it whatever you please; you
have the responsibility to do with it whatever pleases him. Your job is to ask
yourself, “What would Jesus do with all this stuff:” and then do it. . . That
means so much more than holding everything with a loose grip. It means
leveraging money and possessions to expand the kingdom of God.
QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER
Why do you think
so few people take this command of Christ seriously?
Which of your
possessions are you reluctant to relinquish? Why?
When it comes to
the money and possessions that Jesus has handed back to you, what is He asking
you to do differently?
ACTION STEPS FOR THE WEEK
Get the book The Invitation by Greg Sidders and
prayerfully read through chapter 7 and/or click here to listen to a radio interview in which he discusses this verse and many other challenging teachings in his book.
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