Give up everything

Then He said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.

Luke 9:23 (NIV)

When Jesus calls us to follow Him, promising to watch over us and take care of us, He is not asking us to walk with Him, taking all our possessions and desires with us. What He asks is to give up everything to follow Him. In other words, giving up everything we are, everything we have, everything we hoped for to embrace the new life He is offering us.

Two things must hold your attention: the first, He tells us to take up our cross to follow Him, and the second, to choose Him in place of the members of our family, be it father, mother, husband, wife, children. Such a decision may seem difficult or even absurd to make, but if you know Christ as He knows you, by faith you will trust Him. His call is not for this earth, but for the life that awaits you in eternity.

Some Christians, though confident in their decision to respond to Christ's call, still cling to certain lusts and desires that they deem important to them. Let me remind you of this message from Paul: “Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household" which we find in Acts 16:3. Which means that Jesus Christ must be at the center of your life, your heart and your decisions. You must even forsake your old ways to follow Christ for that is where your relationship with Him will begin.