Luke 14:1-35
1 Now it happened, as He went into the house of one of the rulers of the Pharisees to eat bread on the Sabbath, that they watched Him closely.
2 And behold, there was a certain man before Him who had dropsy.
3 And Jesus, answering, spoke to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”
4 But they kept silent. And He took him and healed him, and let him go.
5 Then He answered them, saying, “Which of you, having a donkey or an ox that has fallen into a pit, will not immediately pull him out on the Sabbath day?”
6 And they could not answer Him regarding these things.
7 So He told a parable to those who were invited, when He noted how they chose the best places, saying to them:
8 “When you are invited by anyone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in the best place, lest one more honorable than you be invited by him;
9 and he who invited you and him come and say to you, ‘Give place to this man,’ and then you begin with shame to take the lowest place.
10 But when you are invited, go and sit down in the lowest place, so that when he who invited you comes he may say to you, ‘Friend, go up higher.’ Then you will have glory in the presence of those who sit at the table with you.
11 For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
12 Then He also said to him who invited Him, “When you give a dinner or a supper, do not ask your friends, your brothers, your relatives, nor rich neighbors, lest they also invite you back, and you be repaid.
13 But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind.
14 And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you; for you shall be repaid at the resurrection of the just.”
15 Now when one of those who sat at the table with Him heard these things, he said to Him, “Blessed is he who shall eat bread in the kingdom of God!”
16 Then He said to him, “A certain man gave a great supper and invited many,
17 and sent his servant at supper time to say to those who were invited, ‘Come, for all things are now ready.’
18 But they all with one accord began to make excuses. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a piece of ground, and I must go and see it. I ask you to have me excused.’
19 And another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to test them. I ask you to have me excused.’
20 Still another said, ‘I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.’
21 So that servant came and reported these things to his master. Then the master of the house, being angry, said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in here the poor and the maimed and the lame and the blind.’
22 And the servant said, ‘Master, it is done as you commanded, and still there is room.’
23 Then the master said to the servant, ‘Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.
24 For I say to you that none of those men who were invited shall taste my supper.’ “
25 Now great multitudes went with Him. And He turned and said to them,
26 “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple.
27 And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.
28 For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it—
29 lest, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him,
30 saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’
31 Or what king, going to make war against another king, does not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand?
32 Or else, while the other is still a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks conditions of peace.
33 So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple.
34 “Salt is good; but if the salt has lost its flavor, how shall it be seasoned?
35 It is neither fit for the land nor for the dunghill, but men throw it out. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”
It’s easy to get a unanimous show of hands to the question of who loves God. There is another consideration altogether, though, when asked about following as His disciples. Jesus indicates that those who actually make and fulfill this choice have thought carefully about it and all it will require. Just like those who commit and follow through with any major skill development, there will have been careful consideration of what sacrifices are required to make any progress with it. Then, when given a choice to be faithful to these requirements or relent to some otherwise legitimate alternatives, the decision will have already been made. When Jesus beckons to follow, a very definite cost must be seen as part of this decision. While His grace is powerful to forgive and enable in righteousness, it is found in each decision to truly follow in those moments when other opportunities challenge this amazing chance to be with Him. How great it would be never to have regrets that this better thing was given up for the trivial and temporary, things that could have been set aside for Him.
In this day of abandoned morals and righteous standards, how great is this amazing opportunity we have today to remain faithful to the Master. No matter the cost or sacrifice, each choice of Him over excuses is a precious elevation of Him in honor and worth. As each of the disciples’ choices to follow was essential for the kingdom, so is our impact made when the cost is considered and intentionally chosen.
Video
Tasteless salt is worthless.
Luke 14
I recently purchased a salt and pepper shaker set that are very cool because they are automatic. The greatest gift about them is they are effortless in use. I just push a button on top and they dispense salt or pepper. No more shaking of the arm, no more effort. ( Yeahhhhh, it’s the simple things in life…)They even have a light that when the button is pushed on top, the light shines on the food at the bottom to enable me to see the amount of salt I’m using. Pretty nifty!
One key element to this device is to be sure the batteries are in and lined up in the proper order to enable the power to dispense salt. They don’t work without the batteries!
When I first purchased my new prize in salt shaking abilities, I used salt that was older, already broken into tiny pieces and tasteless. It was actually useless in my new device.
When I told my husband of my dilemma he simply replied, “ your using the wrong kind of salt. You need the coarse kind. “ The kind I was using was coarse at one time but had gotten older and just wasn’t working correctly. After filling the new kitchen gadget with new, coarse, tasty salt, I pushed the button, the light came on and, BAM…the salt was administered. It was just the right kind! Salty! Seasoned! Useful!
Luke 14:33 says, “salt is good, but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned?”
In our reading today, I couldn’t help but think of how useless we can become to the world if we have just been sitting around, self focused, purposeless, not serving others, lacking motivation to share the love of Jesus with others. The enemy wants us to become so self focused and looking to other things that we lose our usefulness for the Kingdom. Just sitting in the “waiting place” is useless.
Jesus said you have to lose your life-forsaking all that you have, to be His disciple. Whoever has ears let him hear. (Luke 14:33, 35)
Another issue I had was after the batteries were in place, or so I thought, I was still lacking power to dispense the contents. After rechecking the batteries I could see one was out of line and had disabled the power from within.
Our efforts to disperse the glory of God will not come from our own natural abilities but by the power of God. As we remain connected to the power of the Spirit within, it will enable our hearts to release words filled with LIFE and the anointing will flow to bring change to lives all around us.
Sooooo BE SALTY TODAY!