Go, Bear, Build

Luke 14:23 And the master said to the servant, "Go out to the highways and hedges and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled."

This verse hit me today as I was reading it. It hit me in such a profound way because it was a verse hidden in the middle of a parable and speaks lightyears beyond it's intentions for the story. This was one that was hard to digest. Jesus says "Go" a lot. This parable shows us an accurate picture of what the master, God, has asked us to do. Not to go out and get the ritzy, healthy people and bring them to eat but to go and get the people who need love and perhaps, a hot meal. Those who are lost in the darkenss and the pain of the world. Those who need to be touched by God. You see...this was revelation for me because God does not live in a box. He has enough for all of us and more. Food? yeah. life? you bet. Love? So much more than we could ever need or experience. Thats His job. And he says "Go" to the highways and hedges not to give us gudelines for who to invite into His presence, but to open our minds to a thought process bigger than ours that firmly knows beyond a shadow of a doubt that all people are invited to fill this house. In a later verse it says:

Whoever does not BEAR his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? (Luke 14:27-28)

This is also profound. As we wake up every morning and get ready to go out into the world...a new day...Gods will, we have to do something...that is, take up our cross. The cross was not comfortable to carry or to hang on. It was uncomfortable to watch in "The Passion of the Christ" and it was even more uncomfortable to witness at the foot. So why? What does it mean to pick up our cross? It basically says in verse 28 that we can sit and count the cost and try to calculate the end result just right. Just enough. But is God so small that we can count His will for our life and see if it's WORTH OUR TIME? Heavens no. He's not small. He's big and He can do immeasuribly more than anything we could EVER ask or imagine. So. The question. Can we BUILD this Kingdom for God? Are we going to sit and count the cost? My vote is no because the cost was already counted. His name is Jesus Christ. If He endured the cross and carried His own, so can we because we aren't doing it alone. We have Him and His strength in us. I'm ready to jump out in faith and watch God build bridges, provide parachutes and open my heart. It's not easy because it's FAITH. (the belief in what we can't see) And it's not easy because that means I have to be less selfish and more selfLESS. It's easier because He's real. I wanna go make a difference. So off to the highways and the hedges, the roads and shelters, the schools and the colleges, the businesses and the slums, Aubry butte and Romaine Village. Here we go.