Are you worthy?

Matt 10:37-40: "He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. 38 And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. 39 He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it. 40 He who receives you receives Me, and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me.”

Being a disciple means many different things to many people. For some, being called and aligning themselves with a group or calling themselves “Christian” is enough to be called a disciple. For others being a member of a church or being raised in a Christian home makes them a disciple. However, the Bible is clear that a disciple of Christ is not just a member of a church or a person who may have been baptized years ago. The Bible is clear that a disciple is not just someone who calls himself or herself by a name and is comfortable with the fact that they are affiliated with a particular group. No, Jesus makes it clear what His disciples should be. For a disciple of Christ there should be nothing that comes between God and us. He should be first place in our lives. Once we make Him the center of our lives then everything else will get right: our marriages, our careers, our relationship with our children, and every other aspect in our lives.

Jesus also said that, “And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me” The cross that Jesus is speaking of is the burden we must endure for Christ and the suffering that we will endure as a disciple of Christ. When one was ready for their execution, the subject was required to “carry” their cross to the place that they will be executed. Jesus did this on the way to Calvary. The cross that we are called to carry is not a sin or a burden that we have placed on ourselves; it is a place of righteous suffering that comes from following Jesus. If we are not willing to carry the burden of suffering, then Jesus says we are not worthy of Him. He told his disciples that when they go out into this world there would be suffering. He told them that He would send them out as sheep among wolves.

This is the life of the disciple, and we are all called to be disciples following Jesus at all cost. He told them and tells us today that if we would lose our lives for His sake then we will be worthy. Lose our lives does not mean only to become a martyr, it means letting go of our lives and placing it in the hands of Jesus and giving Him complete control. Like the Poker players on TV, we are called to go all in.

Tomorrows Readings:
Old Testament: Gen 33-35 New Testament Matt 11