S - Luke 14: 26 -35 (NASB)
26 “If anyone comes to Me and does not [r]hate his own father, mother, wife, children, brothers, sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple. 27 Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. 28 For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost, to see if he has enough to complete it? 29 Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who are watching it will begin to ridicule him, 30 saying, ‘This person began to build, and was not able to finish!’ 31 Or what king, when he sets out to meet another king in battle, will not first sit down and consider whether he is strong enough with ten thousand men to face the one coming against him with twenty thousand? 32 Otherwise, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and requests terms of peace. 33 So then, none of you can be My disciple who does not [s]give up all his own possessions.
34 “Therefore, salt is good; but if even salt has become tasteless, with what will it be [t]seasoned? 35 It is useless either for the soil or the manure pile, so it is thrown out. The one who has ears to hear, [u]let him hear.”
O - Jesus is speaking to His disciples and the thousands who had gathered to here Him teach and see Him heal the lame and afflicted. He tells them the kind of people who will be able to follow Him and receive healing from the one who sent Him. They needed to give up their entire life and follow him, carrying each their own cross. He explains to them it is important they count the cost of this choice to follow Him, much like the person who sets out to build a tall skyscraper must count the cost to build the building before they start so they have confidence they will finish it. Therefore each one of us needs to count the cost of following Jesus and should follow Jesus as His disciples have.
A - The application for me is to be sure I understand the cost of following Jesus. I must consider separating myself from my mother and sister, from my wife and daughters, for my fathers and their son and daughter. I must pick up my cross that I must bare in order to follow Chris for the cause of winning souls for the Kingdom of God. For what King would fight a war against a far superior army without having assurance they will be victorious, it would be better for them to surrender and become slaves.
P - Dear heavenly Father, help me to follow the example of Jesus, your chosen one. Help me to lay down my possessions on the alter as an offering to you. Then equip me in the full armor of God so that I might fight our great enemy Satan who seeks to kill and destroy all of Gods people. I want to be know as Joseph, follower of Christ, and warrior for God's elite fighting force and a friend to the sons of Man. I pray all this in Jesus Christ name, Amen.
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