As the fame of Jesus spread throughout Israel the crowds that followed Him grew larger and larger. One day Jesus turned to the multitude that was following Him and said to them,
“If any man comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sister, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.
Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.
Which of you wanting to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost to make sure he has enough money to complete it?
Otherwise, after he has laid the foundation and runs out of money to finish the building, everyone will mock him. They will say,
‘The man began to build, but ran out of money and was not able to finish.’
What king goes to war against another king without first sitting down and considering the odds of winning the battle?
If he only has ten thousand soldiers and his enemy has twenty thousand, perhaps he should send an ambassador to make peace.
If you do not renounce everything that you have, you cannot be my disciple.
Salt is only good as long as it has flavor. If salt loses its flavor, how will it be seasoned? It is not good for anything and will be thrown away.
He that has ears to hear, let him hear.”
