#DailyDevotion Who Will You Love More?

Luke 14: ²⁵Large crowds were going with Jesus. Turning to them, He said, ²⁶“If you come to Me and don’t hate your father, mother, wife, children, brothers, and sisters and even your own life, you can’t be My disciple. ²⁷Whoever doesn’t carry his cross and follow Me can’t be My disciple. ²⁸“If anyone of you wants to build a tower, won’t you first sit down and figure out what it costs, to see if you have enough to finish it? ²⁹Otherwise, when you’ve laid a foundation but can’t finish the building, all who watch you will make fun of you ³⁰and say, ‘This fellow started to build but couldn’t finish it.? ³¹“Or suppose a king is going into battle against another king. Won’t he first sit down and consider if with ten thousand men he can oppose the other coming against him with twenty thousand? ³²If he can’t, then, while the other is still far away, he sends ambassadors to ask for terms of peace.

Pretty tough stuff Jesus. You want to follow Jesus? You want to come to him and be his disciple? Well then you are going to have to hate your father, mother, wife, children, brothers and sister and even your own life. Just what is Jesus talking about? I thought Christianity is all about love. Well it is; the love God has for you in Christ Jesus and the love you are to show Jesus and the Father because of it. You’ll get around pretty quickly to loving your neighbor.

So what is Jesus talking about here, hating all these people and even your own life? Even your own life I think gives us some help maybe. For we know Jesus would rather us give up our own life rather than renounce our faith in him. What is worth more to you, your life now or your eternal life in the one to come as a result of faith in Jesus? Well if you are a Christian, your life to come through your faith in Jesus is to mean more to you.

In similar fashion, what is worth more to you Jesus or your family? When you have a choice of who you are going to be loyal to which is it going to be? So for example, your mom and your dad want you to do something wrong, sinful, forbidden by Jesus or they’ll cut you out of the will. Who will you be loyal to, Jesus or your parents? Your kids are engaged in sinful activity and want your approval. Are you going to give them your approval or will you love Jesus more and call them to repent?

Who and what are you going to cling to more, Jesus or creatures and creation? Jesus is making a claim here in this passage. He is claiming to be God. He is claiming to be your creator. He is making a claim on you only the Lord God of the Old Testament can make. Deu 6:5 “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.” Again, Deu 30:6 “And the LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live.” For when we confess Jesus is Lord we are saying he is this LORD speaking in Deuteronomy and the rest of the Old Testament. He has come in the flesh and he has by his innocent suffering and death on the cross delivered you from the power of sin, death and the power of the devil.



Jesus, the Lord and God of the Old Testament has come and tabernacle amongst us by becoming one of us. As one of us, he fulfilled all the commandments he has ever given in our place even as Adam sinned in our place. Jesus suffered for us the due punishments for our sins in our place so that we might have eternal life through faith in him and in his name. So on top of being the very God and LORD of the Old Testament, who can claim this love from us simply by being our Creator, by his great love for us, for you on the cross he can make this claim of our for him. Will you love Jesus more than anyone or anything else?

Blessed Jesus, you have shown your great love for us by going to the cross in our place. Grant us your Holy Spirit and faith that we may love you as you deserve, more than anyone or anything else and when we fail, call us back to repentance that your love for us may again be show in our love for you and for our neighbor. In you precious name we pray. Amen.