Have You Given Up Everything For Christ?

Everything Means Everything

Luke 14:33 NIV – “In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.”

What is the one thing that retards our Christianity or hinders our relationship with the Lord? It is our inability to give up everything. We hear these words spoken by our Savior; we affirm them with our mouth, “Lord I will give up everything for You;” however, simultaneously our hearts are saying, “Lord I will give up everything for You, except…” Everything means everything. 

In verse 26, Jesus says, “If anyone comes to me (desires to be a disciple) and does not hate (give up) his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters–yes even his own life–he cannot be my disciple.” 

In the Gospel of Mark, chapter 10, Jesus tells the rich, young man who was very religious (verse 20) and walked and talked like a Christian to “Go, sell everything. ” The man, like many of us, “went away sad.”

What is God’s deal? Why does He want us to give up everything? One of my favorite scriptures is Genesis 3:8a, “Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as He was walking in the garden in the cool of the day…” God created us for the sole purpose of spending time with Him; the six days before we were created, God made sure we would not need or want for anything so that we could spend all our time worshiping Him. When God says everything, He means everything, not to be mean, but so that we can focus all of our attention on the praise and worship of Him.

My comments: Understand that God has given us EVERYTHING in Chrsit Jesus and His Eternal Kingdom--Paradise. He has withheld NOTHING from us--NOTHING! He gave His life for each of us on a brutal cross so that we could be forgiven of our sins against Him. There is nothing more He can give. There is nothing more to give.