Fully Devoted Christ-Followers = Salty

Genesis 34; Genesis 35; Genesis 36; Luke 14
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Scripture

The Cost of Being a Disciple

25 Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: 26 "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple. 27 And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.

28 "Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? 29 For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, 30 saying, 'This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.'
31 "Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Will he not first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? 32 If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. 33 In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.

34 "Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? 35 It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; it is thrown out.
"He who has ears to hear, let him hear."

Observation

Jesus is laying out the cost of being one of his disciples and it is costly. Christ says in verses 25-27 that He has to come first in our relationships if we are going to follow Him.

He uses two illustrations to make his point: 1. A person building a tower should count the cost before beginning construction. 2. A king going to war better size up his enemy and negotiate with the opposing force if there is no way to win. In both cases his point is that if you are going to be a Christ-Follower then you need to think about the cost and realize that it is the smart thing to surrender our lives to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

The last illustration he uses is found in verse 34 and it is the importance of being “salty”. Salt when it maintains its saltiness is a powerful thing. But what good is salt if it is not “salty”. A fully devoted Christ-Follower is powerful and of tremendous value to the kingdom of God, but the believer that has lost his or her focus has become as useless as salt that has lost its saltiness.

Application

I want to help more of our people especially our men to become fully devoted Christ-Followers by encouraging them to be a part of accountability groups.

Do you have someone in your life that you are allowing to hold you accountable spiritually?

Prayer

Heavenly Father, today I want to take up my cross and it is my desire to follow you. Take away anything in my life that keeps me from being fully devoted to you. Help me to be like the salt you talk about in this passage that still is useful. I want to influence men and women to be more Christ-like. I pray that you help me to encourage our men to be completely devoted to you. You are Worthy to be Praised. You are Worthy of our complete devotion! Amen.

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