Mar 10:29
And Jesus answered and said, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel's,
Mar 10:30
But he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life.
You have to leave it all behind, and follow Jesus and his testimony.
You have to leave your house, this could be so many things.. it could be whatever you put your trust, hope, faith, assurances, belongings, treasures.. everything you believe in, whether they be religions or education, or idols of any kind, everything behind.
And the moment you begin to remove their hold on you, the world begins to attack you.
Most people don't want to walk away from things they have become familiar with even if they are not beneficial for the salvation of the spirit.
Some stay in bad marriages, some stay in wrong churches, some stay in wrong traditions and beliefs.
All these things are the treasures they lie up for themselves or one could say, the works of their own hands.
A lot of things are passed on from generation to generation like hope chests in the attic, that to depart from them would be like throwing everything away, great loss, which would bring great sorrow.
And nobody wants to lose those things they love and have held onto for generations.
See how hard it is to even change ones political party. Not because they agree or disagree, but because it's the way it's been for a very long time, and they are afraid of ridicule by family, friends, society, if they even breath they are thinking of changing direction.
I bet the early church went through all kinds of persecutions. Whether your coming out from under Jerusalem and their laws, or Rome and it's laws.
Whether Jew or Gentile they all and we all have to face the same tribulations and trials.
I hear Paul.. Through much tribulation...
Jesus promises, If we leave everything behind, let it go, be dead to it, it's gone gone gone..
And we follow him and the path he sets before us, that all these things that we thought were so precious before, he will give us better than that and even multiply it without measure.
It's a hard crossroad indeed. But Paul says that this is our reasonable sacrifice for him, for all the sacrifice he gave to us, even his life.
And it is this sacrificing everything behind us that we walk forward into a new day, a new way, which only leads to peace and joy in Him.
This to me is the intention God had when he created the Sabbath day for man to rest in with Him.
Hugs