d to the plough is fit for the Kingdom of God."

Once, when crowds were following him, he turned and said to them, "If
any one who comes to me is not willing to give up his father and mother
and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and his very life,
he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not carry his own cross, as he
follows me, cannot be my disciple.

"Who of you, if he wishes to build a tower, does not first sit down and
count the cost, to see whether he has money enough to finish it?
Otherwise, if he has laid the foundation and is unable to finish the
building, all who see it make fun of him and say, 'This man began to
build but could not finish!'"

THE WAY TO LEARN FROM JESUS

Jesus taught his disciples, saying, "Do not think that I came to set
aside the old law or the teachings of the prophets. I did not come to
set them aside but to complete them.

"Come to me, all you who labor and are heavily burdened, and I will give
you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am kind and
sympathetic, and you will find rest, for my yoke is easy and my burden
light.

"He who hears these words of mine and keeps them in mind will be like a
wise man who built his house upon the rock. The rain fell, the floods
came, the winds blew and beat upon that house; yet it did not fall, for
its foundation was built on the rock.

"He who hears these words of mine but does not keep them in mind will be
like a foolish man who built his house upon sand. The rain fell, the
floods came, the winds blew and beat upon that house, and it fell, and
great was its downfall."

At another time when Jesus was teaching beside the lake, such a large
crowd gathered about him that he entered a boat and sat in it, while the
crowd stayed on the shore. He then taught them many truths by means of
stories, and said, "Listen to me. The sower went out to sow, and as he
sowed, some of the seed fell on the road where birds came and ate it up.
Some fell on rocky ground, where it had but little soil, and because
there was no depth of earth it began to grow at once; but when the sun
rose, it was scorched with the heat, and having no root it withered
away. Some of the seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and
choked it so that it bore nothing. Other seed fell on good soil, and
sprouted and grew and bore at the rate of thirty, sixty, and a
hundredfold." And he said to them, "Let him who has ears to hear,
remember this."

When Je