““If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters — yes, and even his own life — he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. “For which of you, wanting to build a tower, doesn’t first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it? “Or what king, going to war against another king, will not first sit down and decide if he is able with ten thousand to oppose the one who comes against him with twenty thousand? In the same way, therefore, every one of you who does not renounce all his possessions cannot be my disciple. “Now, salt is good, but if salt should lose its taste, how will it be made salty? It isn’t fit for the soil or for the manure pile; they throw it out. Let anyone who has ears to hear listen.”” Luke 14:26-28, 31, 33-35 CSB https://bible.com/bible/1713/luk.14.26-35.CSB

This is now the second time Jesus, God Himself, has told His disciples and has told us by way of this recording, that we must take up our cross to follow Him, even as He took up the cross on earth to do the will of God which is the obtainment of our salvation. This time, Jesus equates the taking up of the cross to love Him more than family or possessions, just as He left the Father’s presence from the throne room of heaven to come to earth as one of us, poor and without notoriety to become the sacrificial Savior of the world. God invites us to consider carefully the cost He requires from us. Many claim to be Christian, but they love family and comfort more than God. In this group, we are like salt that has lost its flavor. We are useless, bringing no value to the kingdom of God. We should not expect a warm welcome into the presence of God, but we should fear being rejected by God. We demonstrate our love for God when we make our primary concern obedience to His will as recorded in His word, where we spend time with Him regularly. His will is for all people to come to the full knowledge of Him, becoming like Him in obedience to His commands. Therefore, we work at raising godly children, we share the need for Jesus with family and neighbors, and we give to those who travel the world to make disciples of Jesus until everyone we know everywhere in the world comes to repentance and faith in Jesus. We give, serve, and share sacrificially, experiencing the temporary discomfort and disdain of those around us, just as Jesus did while on earth, to receive the reward and welcome in heaven promised to the faithful servant of God.