Devotion - To What?

This morning, the insights of Oswald Chambers meant a lot to me. He was discussing the words of Jesus in Luke 14:

“If anyone comes 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.”

This saying of Christ has always been a mystery to me. Why would he want us to “hate”? It sounds like fanaticism on the surface.

What Chambers said though seemed to get at the root of the matter. Jesus is pointing us away from our principled beliefs, doctrines, and other dearly-held things, and pointing us toward himself. He wants us devoted to him to fully experience his joy and true freedom to live.

Some pertinent quotes from Chambers:

“There is a vast difference between devotion to a person and devotion to principles or to a cause.”

“The Christian life is a life characterized by true and spontaneous < JOYOUS! > creativity.”

“People pour themselves into their own doctrines, and God has to blast them out of their preconceived ideas before they can become devoted to Jesus Christ.”

Regarding life in general, perhaps, diabetes is one of those “blasting” experiences. It certainly blasted me out of some of the obsessions that had come to dominate my life, or at least it served to put them into proper perspective.

Regarding our practice of the Christian faith, perhaps absolute correctness of doctrine, perfection of behavior, and ultra-discipline are not nearly so important as staying in tune with, and flat-out, 100 mph, living the love of Jesus Christ by making him look really good in our daily world, no matter where he takes us!