Thurs.’s Devo -The Cost

Read Luke 14:25-35 Jesus made a very strong statement: “if any man wants to come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, and his own life, he cannot be my disciple.” He goes on to give a parable about what he means. If you are wanting to build something, you wouldn’t start without first finding out how much it is going to cost. Or what president or king would start a war that he didn’t think he would be able to win. That is the same way it is in the kingdom. To follow Jesus, it will cost you everything. You have to be willing to put your family, friends and yourself on the altar. That is the test of a true disciple- one who has given all. He ends his teaching with a lesson on salt. We are to be the salt of the earth to preserve it from destruction. If we lose our effectiveness because we have become complacent in our walk with God then instead of preserving the land, we add to the dirt and the land becomes a waste land. We need to stay seasoned and a blessing to the earth and the world we are in. We literally hold back Satan’s hand of destruction and evil back when we walk in righteousness. God would have spared Sodom and Gomorrah if he had found 10 righteous men there. As it were, there were none and Lot was delivered because of Abraham’s righteousness and lineage. Lord, keep us salty and alive in you so that your presence in us can make the devil have to flee.