It’s interesting that in today’s gospel Jesus challenges two of three potential disciples to greater self-giving, while cautioning the third to curb his enthusiasm. In each case, Jesus was looking into each person’s heart and seeing what each person was as yet unable to see. In the first he saw the still untested zeal and overconfidence that needed to be tempered, whereas in the latter two, he sensed their still untapped potential and sought to liberate them from remaining attachments that were holding them back from entering into the fullness of his kingdom. And so it would be important for each one of us to discern what Jesus might be saying to us this morning: Is he curbing our imprudent enthusiasm or urging us to greater and more self-giving effort?