38: And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.
Luke 14:26: If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.
Of course, God does not want us to hate our mother and father and sisters to wish evil upon them or to want to do harm to them. Of course we should love our parents and obey them and respect them, but this verse means that our love for Jesus above all else will be so great that our love for them will seem like hate compared to the love we have for Jesus.
It also means to love him more than your own life (denying your own wants and wishes and surrendering your whole being to Jesus and what he wants to do with your life for his glory).
James and John are examples of people who left their father and their fishing business to follow Jesus.
Matthew 4:21: And going on from thence, he saw other two brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in a ship with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and he called them.
22: And they immediately left the ship and their father,and followed him.
A great example in the old testament of someone who put God first over his family is that of Abraham offering his only son Isaac, and laying him on the altar of sacrifice to obey God.
Genesis 22:12: And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me
Genesis 22:15: And the angel of the LORD called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time.
16: And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the LORD, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son:
17: That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiple thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies.
Furthermore, the bible teaches us that our true mother, sisters, and brothers are people who are doing the will of our Heavenly Father, and true born again believers in Christ who are being his disciples. We can be so close to other Christians that are living by the bible and love the Lord Jesus like we do and are serving him like we are, that we have a very close kinship with them.
Matthew 12:46: While he yet talked to the people, behold, his mother and his brethren stood without, desiring to speak with him.
47: Then one said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to speak with thee.
48: But he answered and said unto him that told him, Who is my mother? and who are my brethren?
49: And he stretched forth his hand toward his disciples, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren!
50: For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother.
And remember not everyone that goes to church is Jesus' disciple. Many people who go to church are living very worldly lives and not living for the Lord, and the bible says that people who love the world do not love the Lord. I John 2:15: Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. To be a disciple you must put Jesus first, above everything, even members of your own family. And we are also to be separate from this world and live a holy and godly life.
Romans 12:1: I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
2: And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
Not being conformed to this world means you don't do what all the unsaved people of the world are doing, not dressing like them, not acting like them, not watching TV shows or movies that they are watching, not being wrapped up in money and material wealth and possessions and things that won't last very long. For the bible says to lay up treasures in heaven and not on earth. Matthew 6:19: Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:
20: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal.
21: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
The whole point of living the Christian life is to live for things that are eternal, not things on earth. It is to try to be like Jesus, and we know that Jesus' whole mission was to save sinners. The unsaved people in the world have no concept of eternity, they think that this life here on earth is all there is, so they live for pleasures and fun, but Christians know that after this life on earth we will be living eternally somewhere. For us it is in heaven, but for unsaved people it is in hell to be eternally tormented, and that is why we try to get people saved.
So, in conclusion, if you live out and out for Jesus and put him first in your life, even your own family may ridicule you and think you are weird and strange, but you must put Jesus first no matter what, and God will bless you for it and give you great rewards in heaven one day.
One prime example of putting the Lord first above your family is choosing to go to church rather than choosing to go to a family party or gathering. Church is the place where you can learn the bible, hear a good message from the Lord that will help you grow in your walk with the Lord, but a family party will just be having fun with your relatives. There is a place for family parties, but it shouldn't be placed above church. You have all the other days of the week to do things with your family. Also, the best way to have family time is the whole family going to church and sitting in the same pew together and singing the same hymns together and hearing the same sermon together. It is called having priorities, knowing which one comes first, God or family. Again, we love our families and they are a gift from God to bless us and make us happy, but when you put it in the wrong place it is sin because the bible makes it clear that God is supposed to be first. And if we do put God first, he will make us love our loved ones even better. Being filled with the Holy Spirit makes you love people more. It is just like having a diamond ring, it looks beautiful on your finger, which is where it is supposed to go, but if you put it in your shoe it is not so good and will make your foot hurt. God must be first because it is God who gave us our families in the first place. If it wasn't for him we wouldn't even have our families. Of course when you are a kid you don't get to decide where you go, but you can definitely put God first in your heart, and love him most of all.
In conclusion, what Jesus requires of us to be his disciple is that we forsake all and follow him, just like James and John and Peter and Andrew did when they left their boats and father and followed Jesus. Luke 14:33: So Likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.
It sure is worth it to live out and out for Jesus. You will be so blessed in this life and in the life to come when you go to heaven.
Poetry About Jesus And Salvation
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