Following Jesus, count the cost and go

Following Jesus, count the cost and go
S -  Mathew 10:37-39 (NASB)
 ³⁷ “He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. ³⁸ And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. ³⁹ He who has found his life will lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake will find it.


O - Seemingly harsh words from my savior, but I believe they are said in Truth and in love.  Jesus knows that our passionate pursuit of deep loving relationship with Him and Father, is the answer.  Our tendency to stray from the love of God and begin to covet and idolize other people and things, is perhaps one of the root problems in our lives and causes us to feel empty and we pursue things of less worth than God.  This causes us to though we may claim Him as Lord not be ready to pick our cross and follow Him.   Lastly when we find our own life, free of Jesus, we have really lost the life of fulfillment and truth in following Him. Yet for those who once decided their own desires for their life and laid them down, and follow Him completely live a true life intended for them.


A - The application for me is to recognize I am still/once again at a crossroads in my own life, where I must decide to fully love Jesus,  I must fully count the cost of follow Him, and I must lay down the life I had been building for the one He is preparing.   I must do so in faith.


p -  Dear heavenly Father, I cry out to you Lord, help me in this season to choose you.   The fear and anxiety of the future, the quietness and emptiness of the present surround me in such a cloud, I cannot begin to know what direction to run to you.   I need you Lord to lift this anxiousness, and give me clarity and confidence of who I am in You.   I thank you for always being with me and speaking truth in Love.  I pray all these things in Jesus name, Amen.