In Luke 14:26-33, Jesus is talking about the cost of becoming one of His followers. Jesus says some pretty hard things, that you must hate your mother and father, wife, children, siblings, even your own life. How you must carry your own cross to be one of His followers. He continues and says that a builder makes sure he has enough money to construct a building, so should we as followers of Christ. The builder would be laughed at having an unfinished structure. In our churches today we love to sugar coat the price a Christian has to pay in serving Christ. Yes, I love when God's presence shows up in service and I am forever grateful for His mercy, grace, and unconditional love. But serving God is more than just receiving God's hand of blessings. It is picking up our cross daily and following Him.
Read about all the disciples and Stephen (martyred for his faith), Paul, Timothy, etc....you will see that following God is more than just being handed a white picket fence life. It actually takes sacrifice (I got rid of a friend of 11 years) on our part to be more like Christ. We must get rid of things that hinder us from the ultimate goal.
Jesus gave up His life so we might live. So what are you going to do with the baton that has been passed off to you? Let nothing get in the way of following Him.
Be blessed,
Steve
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