The next post in my series entitled being a Fan or true follower of Jesus will be describing putting Jesus first in our lives on a day to day basis. This post comes from Luke 14:26-28.
The basis for these verses is discussing the cost of discipleship with Jesus. There will be sacrifices made if we are to pursue a life long relationship with God. Jesus says in Luke 14:26 ESV, "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, and yes, even his own life, he cannot be my disciple." A relationship with Jesus Christ required complete surrender to all parts of our life. Sometimes, we don't want to give all of our life to God.
God wants be first in our life above all else. As Christians, in a secular world we at times put many other things ahead of God such as money, sports, relationships. As people in this world, these things pull us down and may take us away from our relationship with God.
God send his only Son Jesus Christ so that whomever believes in him may have eternal life; John 3:16. If God sent Jesus so that we could have a relationship with him then why do we turn to the things of this world to give us comfort and pleasure. The world and it's ways will not give us eternal life that lasts forever in heaven. Jesus says in John 10:10, "I have come to give you life and life abundant." Jesus wants all of us and our life daily and he freely gives us this abundant life that is only found in him.
In our walk with Jesus Christ we cannot have two things we love, Jesus has to be our one and only. Jesus says in Matthew 6:24, "No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money." In our walk with Jesus we can't be half in and half out. This relationship must be an all in complete surrender to Jesus who laid down his life for us. It's just like a marriage with a husband and wife; a husband and wife are both committed to each other totally.
To close out this time together in discussion I want to emphasize the amount that we must surrender to God with our whole life. Jesus says in Luke 14:27 ESV, "Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple."
A relationship with Jesus is a continual dying to our self and our own desires. We must completely surrender our life to him daily. Throughout Jesus' life, he deferred to God the Father in heaven for everything. Jesus surrendered to the Father's will for him to die on the cross for our sins. As Christians in today's world, we must surrender to him completely every day.
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