#11: TERMS AND CONDITIONS APPLY

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“those who come to me cannot be my disciples unless they love me more than they love father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and themselves as well.” Luke 14:26 (GNB).

It will be shocking to know the group of people that Jesus was talking to in the verse of scripture that God is challenging our hearts with today. This on its own makes it a very sensitive matter that I feel everybody that is running this race of faith should be careful of. Luke 14:25 tells us that a large crowd was walking with Jesus, so he definitely was talking to the members of that crowd. The first issue that God will be bringing to us this week is the crowd syndrome. Most men that became heroes of faith that we refer to today in scriptures were never men of the crowd. They were not following Jesus in the crowd manner. It is very simple to be satisfied with the collective anointing in a crowd experience, and just because you are there, you benefit from heavenly out pouring, yet when you are at your secret place, even rain drops cannot fall at your command. This is a call for a personal walk with God, away from the crowd.

Another issue that God is bringing to us strongly from this passage is the very words of the anchor verse. When you know that the people that Jesus was talking to were already following him, you will wonder why he should be saying such words to them. Yet it is the same case with most of us. If up till now, you have not quantified Christ as higher than mother, father, wife, children, even yourself, then Jesus is telling you today that all the following that you think you are doing is in vain, it will be a case where you are following Jesus, yet you are not His disciple (but mind you that a follower is a disciple) in other words; terms and conditions apply. If your following Jesus must be worth the trouble, there are things that you must do first. Remember that in our previous devotional series, God was telling us that the means justifies the end as long as the kingdom of God is concerned. Here is another means to an end that God is bringing to us.

If you look closely at what Christ is expecting for us to forsake, you find out that they are the most important things to live for, yet Christ says, that we must forsake them. Actually, if you think you cannot forsake them, then do not bother starting the journey of a thousand miles, because you may just end up turning round the valley of this same mountain of total surrender, and yet making no real progress in your journey. Vs 28-32 give illustration of a king going out to battle, and a builder on a project. They must count the cost, before embarking on their tasks, else, they abandon it. Failure to do so will cause them to be a monument for mockery laughter.

The kingdom of heaven is like this: something worth a lot of money is buried in a field. A man found it and covered it again. He was so glad that he went and sold everything he had. Then he bought that field Matthew 13:44-46 (WE)

This is exactly a direct illustration of what Jesus was pointing to in our anchor scripture. The man found it. But note that those that find are those that seek. Walking with God is not something that starts carelessly. It is a conscious effort and decision. If it has not cost us everything, then we are not fit to get this “precious pearl”. I pray we react positively and not like the rich young ruler in Luke 18:23

When he heard this, he became very sad, because he was a man of great wealth

God help us. Amen

REFLECTION: Lord, I am so sorry that I have been taking my relationship with you with careless abandon. I can see from Your Word today that you really mean business and commitment from anyone that will go far with you, and so I surrender all I am and have at your feet, and I offer my life to your use. Take glory in me. Amen

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