Imago Scriptura 36 - Planning

It was a wonderful last few days in New Orleans with my pastors group. It was also the first time we brought spouses along so it was a great weekend getaway for all of us. On our last night, we headed out to get some beignets (YUM!) and also went to a traveling light show in City Park. It was called the Chinese Lights and it was absolutely stunning. There were flowers, a gigantic dragon, flowers, animals, Chinese figures, and so much more. One of the conversations a few of us had while walking around was how much went into the planning, creation, and transportation of these stunning displays. It was by no means a simple undertaking.There's an echo to this of what Jesus shares in the passage from Luke that I read today. In Luke 14:25-33 we hear Jesus speak of the tough call of discipleship (whoever wants to follow me must take up her cross…) but then we also come to Jesus making an analogy of discipleship to the challenge of planning a healthy foundation for a building or a King planning what is necessary to be victorious in battle. So, discipleship is not just something you enter into casually but something that takes a commitment to be all in - to be sure to cover all the bases and dot the i's and cross the t's.

But as I write this, I also think about how much of discipleship is how the path is revealed as we go along the journey. It's not something we see the whole path right from the start but one where as we walk in faith, as we build upon the foundations that we have planned out, we will take step after step of faith.

And as we walk, we will come through times of challenge and difficulty, but also times like walking through the Chinese Lights last night where we are surrounded by a breathtaking beauty and wonder.