Bible Chapter: Luke 14

Because the Bible is practical, here are some statements to get you thinking.

1.  Write one or two key thoughts that come from today’s reading.
    Pride. It is a tricky thing to deal with.  In some way we all deal with pride.  We are not junk, so God doesn’t want us to consider ourselves worthless.  At the same time we must be careful to not exalt ourselves.  We need to get the right balance of doing all for God’s glory as we recognize what God has given us.  Jesus showed here that we should be humble and serve Him and let Him take care of the recognition.
    We are all called to be disciples of Jesus.  We are to be learners and followers of what Jesus taught.  A disciple is a learner.  There is a cost to do this.  It means that Jesus must be first and foremost in our lives.  Our love and loyalty to Jesus must mean more than any human relationship.  We need to take up the cross and follow Jesus.  Since the cross is a symbol of death, that says something powerful.  Jesus took up His cross and it brought Him to His death.  We need to consider the cost and then pay it.  Are we willing to give up all to follow Jesus?  These are important and difficult questions, but Jesus posed them for us to consider and then make the decision.  This is an ongoing decision to continue to follow and pay the price.  Our Christian life is a journey.
    We are called to be salt in the world.  If salt doesn’t have the effect on food it is supposed to have it is worthless.  Jesus said that unsalty salt is good only for the manure pile.  Salt influences what is around it.  Salt is worthless until it gets put to use.  Salt creates thirst.  There are many illustrations of what salt does.  They must cause us to think of how we can apply the illustrations of salt to our Christian life.

2.  What can I apply in my life from the reading?
    This chapter talks about serving.  It talks about not striving to be the “big cheese”.  It talks about humility.  I need to balance serving and recognition.  More is accomplished for eternity when people find places of service.  I need to continually seek places of service.
    This leads to the thought of counting the cost.  After a person has sacrificed and counted the cost for a long time it is possible to say, “I’ve done this long enough.  It’s time for me to get something in return.”  I must be careful to not get caught in this trap, but continue to serve and let God take care of the details.
    This chapter ends with a quotation of Jesus, “He who has hears to hear, let him hear”.  So, I need to really hear what Jesus is saying.  There is a difference between hearing and hearing (listening).  I can hear sound and it can process through my brain.  Or, I can hear sound and think about it to see how I can apply it.  Jesus is saying is that I need to really hear what He said so it makes a difference.

3.  How can I help someone?
    There are some recurring themes in the Bible.  One of them is being a servant.  Another is paying the cost to follow Jesus.  These are prominent in this chapter.  The more I apply them the more I can help people.