love/hate

Read I Samuel 20 and Luke 14

Then Saul’s anger was kindled against Jonathan, and he said to him, “You son of a perverse and rebellious woman, do I not know that you have chosen the son of Jesse to your own shame?” I Samuel 20:30

If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Luke 14:26

What the Lord Jesus said about having to hate your family—that’s got to be another one of those hyperbole type of things that we’re really not suppose to take literally. I mean, you have to take everything within its context and we have to look at all the other passages of Scripture that clearly say exactly the opposite. Right? Besides, hate is such a strong word. In the Greek, hate must mean something much softer than what it means in English.

As I’ve mentioned before in this devotional, I believe very strongly that when the Lord Jesus says something, that is what He says. And we have to believe Him for what He says. We are not allowed to reason it away.

Of all the people to whom Jonathan could have committed his friendship, committing it to David was the most hateful to his father.

Love is like that. Nothing excludes like love. Nothing separates like love. Nothing “hates” like love.

I once had a girlfriend (who now happens to be my wife) who I wondered if she really cared for me. One day she came upon me laughing and chatting with another girl. I watched her turn around and go the other direction and I wondered, “What’s that about?” The next time I saw my girlfriend, she was mad. “It’s either her or me,” she said. “Wow!” I thought. I don’t know that I’d ever been so happy.  I said to my girlfriend. “It is you. It is not her. it is totally you.”

My wife is not jealous by nature. Jealousy is totally not a part of our marriage dynamic. But I know I belong to her to the exclusion of all others.

We know a person whose extended family took a vacation together. One member of the family was not a Believer. Early one Sunday morning, the rest of the family agreed to get together to have a short time of remembering the Lord. The nonbelieving family member also happened to get up early and came upon them sharing a few precious thoughts from the Scripture together. She was outraged. “This is the most hateful thing you could do to me. Why did you conspire to all get together to practice your religion? Didn’t you understand how bad this would make me feel?”

When Jonathan chose David, he chose against his father.  When I chose my wife, I chose against all my other friends who were girls. When we as Believers chose our Precious Savior to be our Lord, we make a choice against all others no matter how dear they may be to us. When push comes to shove, our Lord comes first.