A Hard Verse and An Only Child

Sept 3 – Twins for Christ

The squib (fun word) for today starts out with a verse that has always been a difficult one for people to read and understand.  Luke 14:26 quotes Jesus saying “You cannot be my disciple, unless you love me more than you love your father and mother, your wife and children, and your brothers and sisters…”  Some translations even say “If anyone come to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters – yes, even his own life – he cannot be my disciple.” [italics mine]  That sounds so harsh!  Let’s look at it in context and see if it makes more sense:

Start in Luke 14:25 (if you don’t have a Bible, use the BibleGateway.com link at the bottom of this page).  Large crowds were following Jesus and then He turns to them and says basically that they can’t be His disciples unless they hate their family.  Then He continues by asking them a few questions – If you wanted to build a tower, wouldn’t you first figure out if you had enough money to build it?  If a king is about to go to war against another king, shouldn’t he first figure out if his army will be able to stand up against the opposing forces? 

So what do towers and strategy have to do with Jesus?

Building something huge, going to war – these things require a major commitment.  You either give everything you have to that project or it fails.  Before making the huge decision to proceed with either of these, you have to consider the cost of what you’re about to undertake – it might cost you more than you’re willing to give up.  Being Jesus’ disciple requires the same kind of commitment and consideration.  Have you thought about the cost of following Christ?  Are you willing to give up everything?  (There’s a reason this is called a “narrow road”! – Matthew 7:13-14) 

I think our author in DevoZine, Ryan, makes a great point about the first verse we looked at – even though he was extremely close to his twin sister, once they were separated, he was able to realize that Jesus was the ultimate sibling, the ultimate father and mother, the ultimate companion.  Our lives should be focused on and lived for Him alone, even above our families.

The journal questions for today are great:  What does it mean to you that Christ is your brother?  How close are you?  What can you do to strengthen this relationship?  What would it mean to make Christ Number One in your life?

Sept 4 – Sisters

As soon as I saw the topic for this first week of September, I laughed.  I’m supposed to write stuff about siblings when I don’t even have any???  How is that going to work? 

Yes, it’s true.  I am an only child.  I realize that there aren’t very many of us so, if you’ve never met one, now you have!  (Let’s just get this out of the way now – yes, some of us are spoiled rotten, but most of us are just plain spoiled, just like you are, ok?  )

Over the years, so many people have asked me, “You’re an only child?  Wow.  Did you like it?”  Well, this is real life and, like anything in real life, being an only child has its high points and low points.  I must admit that, even in fairly recent years, I have had times when I wanted a sibling.  When I was younger, I used to ask for a little sister all the time, like most kids do.  And now that I’m older, I’ve seen some really beautiful sibling relationships that make me wonder.But there are two really neat things I want to point out —  

Proverbs 18:24 says, “…there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.”  Even if you don’t have siblings, be encouraged!  God has given us people in our lives with whom we can build relationships that are even closer than the ones we have with our family.

Secondly, if you have some time, take a look at the friendship between David (yes, David-and-Goliath David, King David – it’s all the same guy) and Jonathan.  You can read most of their story in 1 Samuel 18-20.  Jonathan was the son of Saul who was king of Israel just before David was.  If God hadn’t intervened, Jonathan would have been king instead of David but not even this could come between them.  These two men of God had one of the closest friendships in the whole Bible.  It is those kinds of friendships that reassure me as an only child that God has not given me any less ability to love.

As God would have it, I found sisters too.  I’m not in a sorority like the devo’s author, but my roommates from my senior year of college are, oddly enough, both only children as well.  We share as sisters, act as sisters, laugh as sisters, and love as sisters, and I could not be more thankful for their presence in my life.  

Today, spend some time thanking God for the siblings you have, even if they’re not related to you.  And if you’re an only child feeling particularly lonely today, know that you are not alone and that God is more than able to fill that void with Himself and in time, may bring along friends to be the siblings you never had.