Peter, Andrew, James and John left all and followed Jesus. Matthew Levi got up from his lucrative customs job to follow Jesus. It seems like it was easy for them to turn away from their livelihoods and incomes.
Would you be able to do that in order to follow Jesus? There would be not necessarily be a fixed income. This verse could strike you cold ...
"So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple" (Luke 14:33 ESV).
To cut off all apron strings of life as you know it and leave the comfort zone would be a big challenge for most people I think. The things of earth that we treasure, are not easy to renounce.
Our hearts are often so wrapped up in things that we may be entangled by them. Yet as we hear from the Lord, a gentle master, may we begin to loosen those bonds and begin to follow Jesus with a heart of love and devotion that then relinquishes that which we once held dearer.
It may not be that we're asked to give our job, incomes and possessions up physically but to renounce them in the importance they have in our heart and life. Are these things the master or is Jesus our Master? These are questions we have to ask ourselves. Do we use our life and possessions for His glory as we follow Him or do they take first place? We can test and examine these for ourselves, asking the Lord to reveal our state through His Holy Spirit's interaction in our lives.
Each person's respective challenge will be different I believe but the process to becoming a devoted disciple of Jesus Christ will be rewarding in a firmer relationship with Him. May He be our everything.
O Jesus, Friend unfailing, may we each be able to say clearly to You, "How dear you are to me" and so follow You unencumbered all the days of our lives. Amen.
~ ERC September 2025 ~
Based on Luke 14:25-32, especially vs 32 ESV.
Sing, O Jesus, Friend Unfailing, along with Geraldine Latty.
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