With a large crowd following Him, Jesus turns to them and says: If you want to be my disciple love me more than your mom, love me more than your dad, love me more than your children, love me more than your wife. Love me more than even your own life. Jesus demands that our loyalty and love for Him be greater than any other attachment in life. This is easy for you right? Jesus died for you.....wouldn't you do the same for Him?
Jesus goes on to say...if you do not carry your own cross and follow, you cannot be His disciple. This means to put your own selfish desires aside regardless of the cost. The cross of Christ is a symbol of suffering, death, shame, ridicule, rejection and self denial. A follower of Christ IDENTIFIES with Christ.
Understanding what you are giving up to follow Christ is something we should all be reminded of on a daily basis. It's easy to get distracted and caught up in life. For the next several days I will share more on this subject because if you have made a commitment to follow Christ, we all need to understand what that means. Don't get discouraged, like I said we IDENTIFY with Christ. He is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. That's ROYALTY!