“Don’t assume that I came to bring peace on the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I came to turn a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and a man’s enemies will be the members of his household. The person who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; the person who loves his son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And whoever doesn’t take up his cross and follow Me is not worthy of Me. Anyone finding his life will lose it and anyone losing his life because of Me will find it.”
Matthew 10:34-39 HCSB

In our Scripture passage today, Jesus warns us that He did not come to bring peace on earth. We are about to enter into the Christmas season and we will sing about peace on earth and good will to men. That is all well and good, but let’s look at what Jesus is talking about here. If you have stood up for Jesus, you have angered some friends and some family members. That’s just the bottom line. When we profess our faith in Christ and try to lead others to do the same, we make some enemies along the way. Sadly, some of these enemies will be our own family members. I have seen households divided over religions and a relationship with Jesus Christ.

But what about our question for today, are you worthy? Well, the answer is no. None of us are worthy to receive God’s salvation and His blessing. But, through His Son Jesus Christ who was willing to die for our sins and rose on the third day, we can be made righteous. We can confess our sins to Him and trust in Him and through His grace and our faith in Him, we can be saved (Ephesians 2:8). None of us can be worthy of Him on our own. We can only be worthy of Him if we turn to Him, believe in Him. We must repent of our sins and accept Him as our Savior.

He’s telling us that we must love Him above all others. Jesus tells us the greatest commandment in Matthew 22:37-39 is that  we are to love the Lord our God with all our heart, all our soul and all our mind. He goes on in verse 39 to tell us the second greatest commandment is to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. We are told in Exodus 20:3 in the ten commandments that we are to have no other gods before Him. He has to be first in our lives. We are told in Matthew 6:33 that if we put Him first, He will give us all that we need.

So, again ask yourself, are you worthy? Do you love Him above everyone else and everything else? Do you place Him above everyone else and everything else? Do you love others enough to try to speak to them about their salvation?

Are you willing to pick up your cross and follow Him? Once we are saved it doesn’t mean that life will be all lollipops and rainbows. It means that we will endure hardships. It means that we will have to have some conversations and be put in situations that make us uncomfortable. It means we will have to live our lives in a way that brings glory and honor to Him. We will have to be witnesses for Him. That will not always be easy. It will make us unpopular with some.

He says if we are not willing to lose our life we are not worthy. Does this mean we must die for Him as He did for us? Yes and no. Our old self must die and we must be spiritually reborn. The old self that sought to bring glory to ourselves must die and we must be new creatures in Christ (Galatians 2:20).

If you read this and realize that you are not worthy, it’s not too late. None of us are worthy on our own. But through His mercy and His grace and our faith we can be made worthy. Trust in Him today before it’s too late.

Have a great day!