“And whoever does not carry their cross and follow Me cannot be My disciple.” Luke 14:27 NIV
Our commitment to Christ isn’t a simple thing that happens just between our ears. Jesus warns us not to pretend to follow. He cautions us that our commitment must be heartfelt and soul-deep and that there is a cost that comes with following Him. Jesus calls us to count the cost and then to follow Him. Jesus is not teaching a new commandment of hating people. He is teaching about the cost of following Him. The clue is in Luke 14:33 when Jesus says: “In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be My disciple.” It’s about what we must be prepared to do to follow Jesus. It’s about giving up everything, even our very lives for Him. He doesn’t say, “by doing this you will get into heaven”. Jesus clearly teaches that through faith in Him we have eternal life. Through His death on the cross, we have the forgiveness of sins. However, are we willing to place Him in first position and place the most important people in our lives in second place? In Luke 14:25, large crowds were travelling with Jesus because they had seen him healing people, feeding people and teaching people at no cost. Why not follow Jesus? You can get something for nothing. Following Him is not without cost. We have to place Him before other important people in our lives. We even have to place Him before ourselves. To get His point across he uses very emotive and challenging language – you must hate everyone else. Jesus is not saying that we do it literally but we must be prepared to put everything else second.
PRAYER THOUGHT
Lord Jesus, stir us to be the followers You want us to be.
PRAYER FOR TODAY
Lord, stir us to be the followers of Jesus You want us to be. We offer You our lives, our love, and our all in Your name. AMEN
INTERNATIONAL BIBLE READING ASSOCIATION (IBRA)
Matthew 7:15-29
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