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. And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it (Matthew 10:37-39).
Jesus’ words as recorded in Matthew 10:37-39, are astounding! We must explore His meaning with great intensity and considerable detail! We see that the Lord is speaking an objective and eternal truth to people who are incapable of capturing His meaning without the aid of the Holy Spirit! Therefore, I implore you and, of course myself to earnestly pray to the Lord for His understanding which is absolutely heavenly and far above our reach, unless He helps us. He is our Helper!
If we are to be the manifestly glorious Church that Jesus died for, we must apprehend the greatness of the Lord and His incomparable worth and worthiness! Until we comprehend the truth of who He really is, we will continue to be earthbound, and thus unable to fulfill our calling!
The apostle Paul’s encouragement to the Colossians and to us is noteworthy. He states that “you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God” (Colossians 1:10). We bring glory to the Lord by our fruitful actions, that is, deeds that are done in God.
What kind of life should a person of God live? He should live a life knowing that the grace of the Lord is sufficient for him/her, that Christ’s strength is made perfect in weakness. Therefore, that believer should and must gladly boast in infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon him/her, resulting in taking pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake (2 Corinthians 12:9-10)!