22 MAY 23 Monday: A Closer Walk Devotional
“Another said, ‘Yes, Lord, I will follow you, but first let me say goodbye to my family.’ But Jesus told him, ‘Anyone who puts a hand to the plow and then looks back is not fit for the Kingdom of God.’” Luke 10:61-62
Some people get exasperated with the political leaders or don’t like the one that just won office and threaten to renounce their citizenship and move to Canada. That is a pretty bold move to do something like that! What you find is that for the majority of these people, it is a stunt or they actually think about what would happen if they did renounce and leave.
When you renounce something there is always something that replaces it. If you renounce citizenship in the United States, you lose your voice in elections, rights, and privileges as citizens, and lose the right to move freely in the country or stay in the place you currently live. If you become a citizen of Canada, you take on all the rights and responsibilities of that nation. You take the good and the bad of that. Is it worth it? You have to weigh the cost and the benefit of that decision.
Jesus lets his potential followers know that there are costs to following him and we should not take them lightly. These Lordship teachings filter out people when the gospel is shared. We must understand that once you surrender, you are bound to the terms the King has laid out. There is no turning back, as the old hymn states. (I Surrender All)
It is a renouncing of your old life and embracing the new one that is in Christ. There are new rights and privileges along with new challenges in being a citizen of the Kingdom of God. Jesus wants us to understand that before we embrace Him, for the road is narrow that leads to life and it has many trials and temptations along the way. Jesus always says that it is worth, every struggle, pain, and suffering because it is nothing compared to the glory of heaven.
Are you willing to renounce your earthly citizenship for a heavenly one?
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