I don’t know many people who don’t like being in control of their life. Lets face it… even when circumstances are bad, we like to think we are still in control of everything. It offers a certain veil of comfort, even if it is not entirely true.

Jesus reminds us that real disciples are no longer in control of their lives. This is what this three verse parable reveals. The weaker king surrenders to the stronger king. Listen to Jesus’ words.

Or what king, when he sets out to meet another king in battle, will not first sit down and consider whether he is strong enough with ten thousand men to encounter the one coming against him with twenty thousand? 32 Or else, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. 33 So then, none of you can be My disciple who does not give up all his own possessions. Luke 14:31-33

In order to understand this parable you and I must realize we are the weaker king. The Lord is the stronger King. We are outsourced, outmatched, and outnumbered. The best course of action is to make terms of peace and surrender.

Like all of Jesus’ demands of discipleship, I have struggled with this issue. I have totally submitted all of my life to the Lord, only to pick certain issues back up again. The cycle is difficult to break until we come to the end of ourselves.

Surrender requires humility on our part. It requires we come under the reign of a new king and kingdom. We are in essence… God’s slaves. The point is none of us can really be a disciple of Christ unless we are willing to give total control over to the Lord. It is easy to determine if Jesus is Lord of all by asking ourselves… “Who is in control?”

In the Old Testament, when a slave was set free after his service was completed, he was free to go and live as he pleased. Sometimes a slave didn’t want to leave his master. If this was the case, his master was to bring the slave before God, take an awl and pierce the slave’s ear on the doorpost of his home. In this way everyone, including the slave, knew he was a slave for life…permanently. (see Exodus 21:5-7)

Sometimes we need to ask the Lord to pierce our ear on the doorpost of heaven. Somewhere in the process of real discipleship we come to the end of ourselves. This must happen. It may get ugly before we get to this point… but is must happen.

Blessings – From God’s Incubator,

Pastor