The third condition for discipleship is in Luke 14:33: "None of you (another absolute statement) can be My disciple who does not give up all his own possessions." 

What does this mean in practical terms? We need to understand it. Does it mean we must become hermits or sanyasis and go into the jungles and live there, forsaking everything? No. "Possessions" refers to those things that possess us. My possession is what possesses me. If my house is my possession, I cling to it because it's mine. I possess it, and so it possesses me. It could be an expensive car that you've got or very valuable stocks and shares; you possess them, and then they possess you, because your mind is so much on those things. Your mind is not on the worthless things that you have in your home, but these very precious possessions.

So, what does it mean when it says that we have to "give up all our possessions" if we are to be His disciples? Do I have to sell everything that I have? There was one particular young man who came to Jesus in Mark 10, whom Jesus did tell to sell all that he had, but Jesus never gave that command to everyone. Zacchaeus, for example, said to Jesus in Luke 19 that he would give away half his goods to the poor and repay those whom he had cheated, and Jesus said that was fine. He said, "salvation has come to this house." He didn't demand of Zacchaeus that he should give up everything like the rich young ruler. In the house of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus, Jesus didn't even demand that they should give up anything. So, He didn't tell everyone that they should sell everything. 

The love of money is like cancer: in some cases the cancer is so widespread that a doctor says the only way you can be cured is by removing the entire organ. It could be some internal organ that is cancerous, and the doctor says, "There is no other way. You've got to remove the whole organ, otherwise you'll die." But in other cases, the cancer has not spread so much, and they need to cut out just a little bit. The love of money is like a cancer. In the case of that young rich ruler, it had spread so much that the Lord had to tell him, "You've got to sell all that you have, and give it to the poor." But in the case of others, like Zacchaeus, it is less. And in case of Mary and Martha, it was much less. So, He didn't give the same command to everyone. It depends on how much the love of money has gripped you, how widespread that cancer is in your life, that determines how much the Lord will tell you to actually give up and sell your possessions.

The attitude of forsaking what we have is understood perhaps best by thinking of the story Abraham and Isaac. Abraham possessed Isaac as his own. He loved him, and he possessed him. Isaac was the darling of his heart, and he cared more for him than even for his wife. God saw that Isaac was a little idol in Abraham's heart, that Isaac was actually Abraham's god. He loved Him too much, and God wanted to detach him from that idolatry of possessing Isaac. So He told Abraham to take Isaac to Mount Moriah and kill him, and Abraham obeyed. God gave him three days to think about it, so he walked all the way for three days to reach Mount Moriah, and then he said, "Yes Lord, I worship You. I will offer Isaac up to You." But as he took the knife to slay Isaac, God asked him to stop, and told him to take Isaac home. From that day onwards, Abraham did not possess Isaac, but he had him. Isaac was still in his house — a he was still his son — but Abraham never possessed him again, and that's a very beautiful picture of what it means to forsake our possessions.

Think of the things that are most valuable (earthly things, material things) to you in your life. What are the things that you value, which are very, very, very important for you? Perhaps you should make a list of them. Those are your possessions, and you must be very honest if you want to really be a disciple. You've got to be honest about what your possessions really are, and then you must decide whether you are willing to stop having a possessive attitude to these things. 

You know a possession when you hold onto something tightly. For example, if I hold a pen tightly in my hand, I'm possessing it. It could be your house, it could be your bank account, it could be your stocks and shares, it could be your car, it could be anything valuable like your property or real estate. To have it means you open your palm. It is still there -- you haven't given it up to somebody else -- but now you say, "Lord I recognize this is not something that's mine. It is Yours. You've given it to me and I am a steward. I want to use it faithfully, but I'm not going to be possessive about it. This doesn't possess me. I have it, and I thank You for allowing me to have it."

This is the difference between possessing and having, and Jesus says that I must forsake all my possessions. I can still have many things that the Lord gives back to me and I can use them, but I no longer possess them. 

This is the third condition of discipleship: I must love Jesus more than all earthly things.