Some people think that following Jesus is easy. Such persons are taught that all they need to do is to accept Jesus as their personal saviour and that is all: no challenges, no suffering, and they think that they have gotten a lifetime membership with Jesus. But the reality is that following Jesus is not as easy as it seems. There are certain conditions attached to following Jesus.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus puts three conditions for those who want to follow Him. They are: 1) “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and his mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple,” 2) “Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple,” 3) “anyone of you who does not renounce all his possessions cannot be my disciple.” The first condition means that we should never love anyone else or even ourselves more than Him. The second condition gives new meaning to the word “cross,” where it means ‘suffering. ‘Bearing one’s own cross’ means to be willing to suffer for the sake of Jesus. The third condition does not mean we cannot have wealth, but it means we must not allow the accumulation and possession of things to come between us and God.
All these conditions sound impossible to observe, doesn’t it? That is why, as the Gospel also tells us, we need to count the cost and think carefully before we commit to becoming Jesus’ disciples. Being a disciple would be difficult, and some of us may be tempted to give up. But let us not give up or despair, as we have Jesus to help and guide us. Let us persevere as Jesus’ disciples, as the rewards are out of this world.