Bear Your Cross - To Follow

Beads of Joy 09-05-10

Bear Your Cross - To Follow
©2010 James Dacey, Jr. SFO

Hello Everyone,

Today's gospel maybe too harsh for many. I find it as "truth be known". Jesus never said following Him was going to easy. The cross He asks for us to embrace and follow in this gospel in verse 33 tells us to, "So therefore, whoever of you does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple." Today's gospel is Luke 14:25-33 (Sayings On Discipleship). Some might interpret this has a very hard saying from our Lord, but we must understand the importance of us placing Him first in our lives, period. Just take a look at the first three verses, "Now great multitudes accompanied him; and he turned and said to them, "If any one comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me, cannot be my disciple." Verses 25-27. We are to "hate" and "bear", my research shows that obviously we are not to "hate" as in the meaning of the word the way we use it. My research found that hating something back than, meant "to prefer it less". Language was strong so that there was complete clarity in the message that no one at all must be in our lives first, before God. All the cost have been taken into consideration as that echos in this scripture.

Yes I will be the first to tell you that "the cost" to take up your cross and follow Him; truly, will cost you your earthly life, some friends and all of the world's treasures. Many close friends (not school friends) of the past, who initially knew me as a "Jesus freak" have abandoned me. I care and I do pray for them, but, oh well what can I do? Along with the loss of many of my acquaintances, I often deal with dirty looks or wise remarks when I speak of Jesus. Through the years the wise remarks have lessened and my answers have gotten more God filled. And now in my old age (lol), I don't ever get anger when someones ignorance of God attacks me. I instead pour out His love inside me all over them, usually that always puts out the flame of hatred they have towards me, because of God or Jesus. Which brings to mind a question, I thought of when I doing all my reading while researching: What is the cost and risk, like was spoken in the gospel, and why is it so important to plan ahead? The answer is more insightful than straight forward. Jesus guarantees us success when we follow Him, that's a true biblical fact. So with that said, we begin following Him knowing what will inevitably happen. What does that do? It should give us the "kahunas" to forge forward sharing His love with everybody. LOL. So be BOLD in the Lord..

So now we know that in order for us to "follow Jesus" it will cost us literally everything. Hmm, are still following my blog now, it's no joke, this is for real, I surrendered my embrace on this world a long time ago. Nothing here will get us there. If you hold on to the things of this world they will become the anchor that won't allow you to freely, quickly follow Him. Now consider: Is what Jesus is offering to us, worth everything, is the cost to receive "Eternity in Heaven with Him" too much for you to bear? I hope that was rhetorical. Of cause it's worth every bit of it and more. One mere drop of His precious blood is worth more than every single possession, and every kind of wealth in the entire universe. We are God's children, we should be screaming and shouting with JOY, that we have such an awesome, loving, caring God. We should do anything and everything we possibly can to do whatever it'll take to be with Him. Consider scripture as your guide and Jesus' own words as the directions. We must give our Lord 24 hours of everyday, and then try to fit everything else in. You will regret doing it the other way around. Please I beg of you to put Jesus absolutely first all the time.

So as we wind down this very exciting, very direct gospel and blog, do you see what we really need to do? Do you see how important it is for us not even to put any person before Him? Anything or anyone worshiped and thought of before God is "idolatry" in some form. And our God is a loving, merciful, forgiving, caring God; but He wants no other Gods before Him. So we must trust in His word, His promises and the depths of His love for us; so that when we put every single thing we possesses and cherish on the line for Him, we know we are doing the right thing. Praise Jesus for today's very powerful reading. I really hope you to got excited and all wound up with overflowing Joy after reading today's gospel. We know the ending of the story, we know what God has promised; now it's up to us. Drop everything and put everyone on hold and RUN after Him with every single bit of energy and excitement that you have inside your heart. Become like me, a goofy, all wound up strange excited child of God. My Joy is ALWAYS in Him. He sets my heart a flame with His love. He is all I think of 24/7/365... Just do it. Pray to Him constantly, day in and day out, "Jesus, I trust in You."


Your brother in Christ Jesus & His Most Blessed Mother,
Jim (The Rosary Man) Dacey Jr SFO