‘Whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple’ Luke 14:33 (NKJV)
In an address to some university students, Rudyard Kipling said, ‘As you go through life, don?t seek for fame or money, or for power, because one day you will meet a man who cares for none of these things, and then you will realise how poor you are’. Yeshua told his disciples not to hold onto those kinds of things either. Telling those who were following Him to give up everything, would have weeded out the spectators from the participants. He didn’t mean that you can’t possess anything, but rather that you must not let anything possess you. To be a disciple, means to hold things loosely. What do you need to hold a little less tightly? What comes between you and your Maker? Not all believers automatically become disciples. It is one thing to believe, but another to believe enough to let go of relationships that get in the way, ambition that distracts, and possessions that shifts your priorities. Philip Yancey commented that, ‘The poor, not the rich, have perseverance for life. Why? Because they have nothing else to hang on to’. Where do you feel that your priorities lie? In the spiritual realm; working for the kingdom of Yehovah, or in the earthly realm; owning the house and car, having the latest technology and being comfortable? You must be able to let go of ‘things’, to pursue Yehovah fully. A.W. Tozer said, ‘There is no doubt that this possessive clinging to things is one of the most harmful habits of life. Because it is so natural it is rarely recognised for the evil that it is’. What do you need to let go of today?