"Rivals"
At first reading, these are startling words from Jesus, and are listed by theologians as a category known as "The Hard Sayings of Jesus". If we are not careful, we will try to dismiss His words with a disclaimer: "none of us is worthy of Him anyway, that's why we call it grace." It's a mental trick to divert a spiritual truth. By acknowledging our 'universal unworthiness," our mind states an eternal truth, but fails to give a specific response to the specific claims of Christ to the single-hearted devotion by His disciples. Some theologians have rightly observed that a disciple can not move on in his relationship with his Lord without dealing with this radical call. As a disciple, we will have to linger at these words as new encounters and experiences enter our lives and reaffirm that there are no rivals in our devotion to Him.