Unless you are willing to give up everything you own, you cannot follow Christ, unless you are prepared to leave every friend you have, you cannot follow Christ, unless you are prepared to leave all those behind that you love, you cannot follow Christ, unless you are willing you leave behind everyone and everything, you cannot follow Christ. Unless you leave every attachment you have to self, you cannot follow Christ, unless you are prepared to die for Him, you cannot follow Him. Every one of these statements are true, and there are more than a few Scripture verses, in context, to back them up, anyone who spends anytime in the Scriptures knows and understands these truths.
If you are going to set your face like a flint, (Isaiah 50:7) if you are going to purpose in your heart to serve no other master, then you must be willing to sacrifice all for the Savior, if you are not, then that thing, that item that you are holding back is more important to you than He is. Such is the walk of many who claim to know Him as Lord today, when in fact He is not Lord of all to them, they have determined that something else, someone else, is more important to them. They have determined that they should be in charge of their lives, that there is an order of importance, and though they may profess otherwise, they know this to be the truth within their heart. Hopefully it grieves them, hopefully they see it as a disgusting attribute, hopefully they will do something about it. But most will not, they will withhold something, they will believe that the Master will understand, that He will give them leeway where He has never given any before.
Most believe that God is understanding in these matters, and so they continue to live a life of partial obedience, picking and choosing for themselves where their great affections should rest, who or what should come before the Maker. For some that thing is wholly religious in nature, it is a bound duty to a church or religious organization, for others it is ones that they deeply love, it matters not what it is, if it is not after Christ, then it is an abomination, as bad as any false worship, doctrine of devils, or idol. Our God is a jealous God, (Exo. 34:14) he holds no lot with those who claim to love Him, but serve another, and do not deceive yourself here, although many of the verses you can correlate these sayings to are found in the Old Testament, God does not change, (Malachi 3:6) Jesus Christ is God, you will find no new commandment in the New Testament, no saying in any of the epistles written by Paul or any other man that the Lord used to write His Holy Book that says otherwise. No where will you find that we are to place anything above Christ, nowhere will you find that Almighty God has changed His mind and decided you should place your spouse, your children, your own self-interest above your obedience to Him.
He has every right, for He alone is Holy, He has every right, for He alone is Sovereign, He alone is the Creator, He is to be worshipped above all, loved above all, and He holds no favor with those who will not do so. The punishment for them? I dare not say, I am no judge, the Lord God alone holds that position, it is the heart that He looks upon, (1 Sam. 16:7) and He is the only one who can do so. The Scriptures are clear though, and that is all this simple messenger can give you, those whose hearts are far from Him will spend eternity in a pitiless, hopeless state, “But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.” (Rev. 21:8)
Those who stand on the wall and warn are easy targets for the stone throwers, they are the perfect target for mockery, innuendos, and lies, but they will not stop warning. They cast no blame, they speak truth, a truth that has not been heard for many years on this planet. Jesus Christ is coming back soon, His church He will take with Him, and many who thought their hearts were set upon Him will be found to be left behind. They will lose everything then, when they could have, should have lost it all for Him a long time ago.