Worthy for Christ – by Renne’ Melek

God desires all your love because He gave His ALL!

Now the Lord had said to Abram: “get out of your country, from your family and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you.”
– Genesis 12:1

“Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And the man’s enemies will be those of his own household.”
– Matthew 10:34-36

When we read the above verses, it doesn’t make sense to our carnal mind that Why would a loving God ask me to separate from my family? Isn’t God loving? Isn’t He family minded?

When a girl and a boy fall in love with each other there are some changes in their behaviour

I would like to explain this through an illustration. When a girl and a boy fall in love with each other there are some changes in their behaviour. They promise to live or die together. They would go against their parents in order to be together. The love of their parents, friends, hobbies and everything else just fades away. The boy is full of the thoughts of his beloved and the girl is full of the thoughts for her beloved. If the parents don’t agree for their marriage then they are prepared to run away and get married and start their married life without family or financial support. The feeling of love is so strong that nothing can tear them apart. Many times the girl gets brutally beaten by her parents and locked up but she doesn’t give up on her love. This how a lot of love marriages take place.

This is quite a similar love story of our bridegroom Lord Jesus and his bride the church. When God called Abraham, He told Abraham to first leave his family and house and then the promise of making him a nation followed. This is not an arranged marriage where we believe in Jesus just like one among other gods. This is a love marriage. We are drawn to Jesus by His love for us. He died for us. We are to respond in love. Just like the girl who would leave everything to be with her lover. Abraham had to believe God for His word that even though he would leave everything behind for God, God would give him the best out of His love. We only believe our loved ones. We don’t believe strangers. Abraham trusted in God’s love that God will do as He says. The girl leaves her family and believes that her lover will take care of her. A lot of issues occur in marriages when the girl or the boy don’t leave their parents and still allow them to be a part of their marriage.

That is why Jesus says in Matthew 10:37:
“He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.”

Imagine if the girl loves her parents more than the boy. If her parents tell her not to marry that boy and she agrees, then that is not true love. It was just an infatuation.

A lot of believers have an infatuation towards Jesus. They love the Lord but not more than their parents or loved ones. They compromise their love for the Lord in order to obey their parents above their God because they don’t want to offend their parents or spouse or children. Jesus says we are not “worthy of Him” if we love our parents or children or spouse more than Him. Le the Lord draw out the sword and cut all human bonds that don’t allow us to love Him with all our hearts and follow Him.

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.” Deuteronomy 6:5
God desires all your love because He gave His ALL. Lets be worthy of His love.