The following quotes are taken out of A.W. Tozer’s book “The Radical Cross.”
“The cross is a sword and often separates friends and divides households. The idea that Christ always brings peace and patches up differences is found nowhere in His own teachings. Quite the contrary is true. For a man to cast his lot with Christ often means that he will be opposed by his blood relatives and will find his true family ties only in the community of regenerated souls.”
“If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters–yes, even his own life–cannot be my disciple. And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.” Luke 14: 26-27
“What Christ is saying here is that FAITH in Him immediately introduces another and a higher loyalty into the life. He demands and must have first place. For the true disciple it is Christ before family, Christ before country, Christ before life itself. The flesh must always be sacrificed to the spirit and the heavenly placed ahead of the earthly, and that at any cost. When we take up the cross, we become expendable, along with all natural friendships and all previous loyalties, and Christ becomes all in all.”
God has been teaching me a lot about what a life completely surrendered to Him looks like and what it means to put Jesus Christ first. I think that these quote say perfectly what that looks like. The above quotes spoke to my heart in such a way that I cannot describe in words. While these were difficult words to read there is no doubt in my mind that what Tozer describes here is truth. The truth of how Christ calls us to live our life will be hard but I know I would not want to live my life any other way. I would give up EVERYTHING I have to follow Him because He alone is enough.
