“So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.” Lk.33 ESV
I think when we read these words of Christ, they seem to us, at least at first, somewhat extreme. Did Jesus really mean that I am to renounce all I possess? Well truthfully, this is only part of what He said. The whole is far more uncompromising. Jesus wants more than our possessions, He wants our very lives. He may start with our possessions but He fully intends to wind up with our hearts.
Renouncing mere possessions is the first step toward denying self and denying the next step toward dying. Just as a seed must fall to the ground and die before it can become what it is to be, so must we. And, in dying to self, we, like a single acorn becoming the trees of a thousand forests, also may become--become far more than we could ever imagine. Death comes before resurrection.
The one who died for us is asking us to do the same, to die for Him. Is this not the life of a disciple but to follow in the footsteps of His Master. His footsteps of course led to the cross, and our footsteps in His will ultimately lead us to our cross, but not before first coming to His for cleansing. His cross makes our cross possible, and the good news, His resurrection--our own.
“I have been crucified with Christ.
It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.
And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” Gal2.20 ESV
Just me trying to be honest with God.
