Luke 14
Read: Luke 14
Luke 14 has a lot to say to us about humility. In our society, humility does not seem to benefit us much. In fact, the idea of humility is completely counter cultural to the way our society works. When you write a resume, you are trying to say you are the best candidate for the job! Humility does not typically get us raises or promotions at work, and unfortunately the humble often get overlooked in favor of the more ambitious. But Jesus says, “For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” Jesus flips our society upside down with that statement! He says that in his kingdom, the opposite will be true. The humble will inherit his kingdom. This says a lot about the kind of heart that is needed to come to a point of repentance and faith in Christ.
Many people live their lives building up earthly treasures and earthly kingdoms. They try to get into the most prestigious circles of influential people so they can move up the ladder of success. This can be seen both in the business world and in the ministry world unfortunately. The problem is, that sort of mentality doesn’t work with God. The ladder of success with him goes down, not up. Instead of bragging about all of the good we can do, we must admit all the bad we have done. Only a person who can humbly admit their need for Jesus’ forgiveness can be saved.
Another reason people don’t admit their need for Jesus is because they are too busy to realize their need. God is throwing a banquet (v. 16). He invites many to come, but they all make excuses. They say, “I have bought a field,” “I have bought five yoke of oxen,” and “I just got married, and therefore I’m unable to come.” So what does God do? He finds people who aren’t too busy to realize their need, and brings them into his kingdom instead. These people can never pay him back, and they know it. As we go about our busy lives, it’s easy to forget that Jesus has done something so great for us that we can never earn it or pay him back for it. The devil loves when we forget this. His goal is not to get us to blatantly deny God, but to subtly forget about him. Don’t miss out on God’s plan for your life in pursuit of your dreams!
