Stay Salty

Monday, April 19th, 2026

4:23 am

Good morning! Today I am in Luke 14:25-35. After Jesus leaves the dinner, a large crowd follows Him. He turned to them and told them that if they want to be His disciples they must hate everyone else by comparison, even their own life. And they must be able to carry their own cross and follow Him. And before they begin following Him, they must count the cost. He tells them no one would begin construction on a building without first counting the cost to finish, otherwise they might only complete the foundation before running out of money. Or a king wouldn't go to war against another king without first sitting down with his counselors to discuss if their army could beat the other army. If they couldn't defeat the other army, they would discuss a peace deal. So, He tells them they can't be His disciples without giving up everything they own. Then He tells them that salt is good for seasoning, but if it loses its flavor it gets thrown away because it is not good for anything anymore. He tells them anyone with ears should listen.

Jesus tells us that we must love Him more than anything else in this world if we want to be His disciples, even more than our own lives. He never tells us that following Him will be easy, and this statement about hating everyone else in comparison and taking up our own crosses, helps us understand what the cost is. Following Jesus could mean losing wealth, status, jobs, family, friends, and even our lives. But here is the thing, He is more important than all of those things put together. Now that does not mean we must hate everyone or reject our family for Him, but there may be many people that hate us or don't want to be around us anymore because of following Him. We cannot let that stop us from following Him though. But He does want you to understand what it means to follow Him.

He compares us to salt. When we chose Him, and begin following Him, He starts changing us. Changing our hearts, minds, and lives. He begins opening our eyes to His ways. Helping us understand Him better and better. Drawing us closer to Him. He begins making us salty for the world around us. Using us to bring others to Him. Using us to save lives. But if we stop following Him when things get too

hard, and we fall back into our old lives before Christ, we lose that saltiness. So much so that we are not able to help anyone. We lose our effectiveness for Christ. Because instead of living for Him, we are living once again in sin, pulling people away from Christ. Showing people its okay to live in sin.

Being a disciple means not living like the world. It means denying the sinful nature that lives within us, and living opposite of the world. Loving others, but not living the way they live. Living the way Christ tells us to live. Taking care of what the Lord has blessed us with and helping others. If we want to follow Him, we must remain in His Word, praying continually, and worshiping Him alone. Nothing can compare to Christ. His is the best thing that will ever happen to you. We must put Him first, then everything else will fall into place. Remain in Him, and stay salty.