The Wrong Side
So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple. Luke 14:33
Pretty plain, isn’t it? We often hear a salvation message that says salvation is a free gift. All you have to do is receive it by faith. But there is quite a bit more to it, right?
First of all, salvation was not free, it cost Jesus His life. We were bought with a price, the precious blood of Jesus that was poured out for all sin for all time. Now, salvation is available to any and all who will receive, but it is not free, and it has a cost. Jesus paid it all so that He could rescue us from sin, but He rescues us from ourselves, also.
In today’s scripture passage, Jesus unpacks this very idea by talking about counting the cost. He doesn’t want followers who are unwilling to count the cost and lay down their lives for the cause of righteousness. He is looking for those who will take up their cross and follow after Him by doing the things that He did. He said, no one makes a decision to build something without first counting the cost. In the case of salvation, the cost is our lives. We give our live to Him for the Kingdom of heaven’s expansion because He gave His life for us.
So, it is time to lay down our selfish ambitions and pick up our mission in Christ Jesus. The truth is, we are on one side or the other. Either we are on the side of evil and self-seeking pleasures, or we are on the God’s side through salvation and on assignment for Him. I know many people want to accept the gift of salvation and then continue on in life pursuing the possessions of the world, but that is not what salvation is. Salvation is turning away from the old sinful life and turning toward a life of righteousness, that is His righteousness. The life that was planned for you and the path that your creator designed for you. That life is in making an eternal impact by bringing the message of salvation and rescuing others who are on the wrong side of life.
Today I want to encourage you to count the cost. Take a good look at which side you are actually helping. Are you a warrior raising up soldiers in the Lord’s army, or are you riding through life on the enemy’s roller coaster of pain and suffering, blindly thinking that you are accumulating wealth and rich? Take a step in the right direction and surrender your life and heart to God through the blood and sacrifice of Jesus. Commit to living out your days on God’s side and be deployed into the world to rescue others who are imprisoned by the enemy of their souls.
If you have never received His great salvation, pray this prayer today and believe by faith that you are now in the LORD’s army: God in heaven, I know I’m a sinner and I need a Savior. I want to turn away from my sinful life to the life You have planned for me. Please forgive my sins, cleanse me from my past, and make me new today. I know Your Son, Jesus died for me. I believe in my heart that You raised Him from the dead. At this very moment, I accept, confess, and proclaim Jesus as my personal Lord and Savior . . . to be Lord of my life from this day forward. I now have a right relationship with God my Father through this salvation in Jesus. I thank You for giving me Your Holy Spirit to guide me and to empower me to accomplish the things You have planned for my life in Jesus’ name, Amen
Today’s scripture reading: Luke 14:25-35
25 Now great multitudes went with Him. And He turned and said to them,
26 “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple.
27 And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.
28 For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it—
29 lest, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him,
30 saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish’?
31 Or what king, going to make war against another king, does not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand?
32 Or else, while the other is still a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks conditions of peace.
33 So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple.
34 “Salt is good; but if the salt has lost its flavor, how shall it be seasoned?
35 It is neither fit for the land nor for the dunghill, but men throw it out. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”
The Daily Dose 