Text: Luke 14:25-35
The cost of discipleship involves hating your father, mother, wife, children, brothers and sisters (v.26). Hatred here means lesser love. To be a disciple of Jesus Christ you love Jesus Christ more than anything else. You must have lesser love for your parents, siblings and children compared to the love you have for Christ.
The audience understood what it meant to carry one’s cross (v.27). The practice of the Roman soldiers, in those days, was to make the one to be executed carry his cross to the execution ground as a sign of submission; and also as a warning to the onlookers to submit or else they would follow suit. Christ requires total submission. A totally submissive believer in Christ is a salt to the world. The type of salt, at the time, was that it was possible for sodium chloride to leach and leave useless residues. Only in Christ, are you fortified and you will not leach.
Meditate on verse 27. How are you going to apply it to your life?
Heavenly Father in the name of Jesus Christ, help me submit totally to You
daily. Amen.