What is meant by “leave everything behind and follow God”?

Relevant Words of God:

You can devote your heart and body and all of your genuine love to God, place them before Him, be completely obedient toward Him, and be absolutely considerate to His will. Not for the flesh, not for family, and not for your personal desires, but for the interests of God’s household. In everything you can take God’s word as the principle, as the foundation. That way, your intentions and your perspectives will all be in the right place, and you will be someone who gains God’s praise before Him.

from “People Who Can Be Absolutely Obedient Toward God’s Practicality Are Those Who Truly Love God” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

You believe in God and follow God, and so in your heart you must love God. You must cast aside your corrupt disposition, must seek to fulfill God’s desire, and must perform the duty of a creature of God. Since you believe in and follow God, you should offer everything to Him, and should not make personal choices or demands, and you should achieve the fulfillment of God’s desire. Since you were created, you should obey the Lord that created you, for you are inherently without dominion over yourself, and have no ability to control your destiny. Since you are a person that believes in God, you should seek holiness and change. Since you are a creature of God, you should adhere to your duty, and keep your place, and must not overstep your duty. This is not to constrain you, or to suppress you through doctrine, but is the path through which you can perform your duty, and can be achieved—and should be achieved—by all those who do righteousness.

from “Success or Failure Depends on the Path That Man Walks” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

9. Your thoughts ought to be of the work of the church. You should put aside the prospects of your own flesh, be decisive about family matters, wholeheartedly devote yourself to the work of God, and put God’s work first and your own life second. This is the decency of a saint.

from “The Ten Administrative Decrees That Must Be Obeyed by God’s Chosen People in the Age of Kingdom” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

You must suffer hardship for the truth, you must give yourself to the truth, you must endure humiliation for the truth, and to gain more of the truth you must undergo more suffering. This is what you should do. You must not throw away the truth for the sake of a peaceful family life, and you must not lose your life’s dignity and integrity for the sake of momentary enjoyment. You should pursue all that is beautiful and good, and should pursue a path in life that is more meaningful. If you lead such a vulgar life, and do not pursue any objectives, do you not waste your life? What can you gain from such a life? You should forsake all enjoyments of the flesh for the sake of one truth, and should not throw away all truths for the sake of a little enjoyment. People like this have no integrity or dignity; there is no meaning to their existence!

from “The Experiences of Peter: His Knowledge of Chastisement and Judgment” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

Sermon and Fellowship Excerpts for Reference:

God requires this of all those who believe in Him: abandon everything to follow God. From the Age of Grace to the Age of Kingdom, there have been so many people who abandoned everything to follow God. Only these people are worthy of being called saints, who are the people of God in the Age of Kingdom. What does it mean to abandon everything and follow God? It is to offer up your whole heart, your entire being to God, and to fully immerse yourself in God’s work and expend yourself for Him. This is the true meaning of abandoning everything to follow God. There are people who believe that only those who haven’t started their own family and have nothing to worry about can abandon everything, while those who have a family, who have parents, a spouse, or children cannot do so. This perspective is incorrect. First, people must know that God’s demands on people are fair and reasonable. He does not demand that people forsake their parents, spouse, or children. Rather, He requests that people offer up their hearts and perform their duty to the fullest without being constrained by any person, event, or thing. This is tantamount to abandoning everything and following God. God does not force people to do things they are not willing to do. It is enough for a person to exert all his effort to satisfy God. It is only natural that one must cast aside some things which should be cast aside. If for the time being one cannot abandon something, all that is required is to not be constrained by that thing. If his heart is still constrained and he cannot fully perform his duty, then this does not count as abandoning everything. The issue of devotion to God lies within the practice of abandoning everything. If you truly are someone who is devoted to God, within your heart you’ll be able to avoid being constrained by your family, spouse, or children. Many brothers and sisters have family ties, but their hearts are not constrained by their families; they perform their duties very well. Though they go away occasionally to care for their families, they do not allow this to interfere with their duties at all. Can you say that they have not abandoned everything to follow God? Having a family truly is a difficulty—no one can deny this. However, if their heart can be loyal to God, they will be able to shake off all family entanglements. Though the flesh undergoes some hardship, there are great blessings from God for their growth in life. And what do those people who cling to the enjoyments of the flesh gain? Ultimately they gain nothing. And how should one deal with the hardships of the flesh? It can be said that any amount of fleshly hardship is a good thing. As long as God is satisfied, then a person’s spirit can rejoice. The greatest pain of all would be to offend God because of clinging to pleasures of the flesh. All those who abandon everything to expend themselves for God will be gratified because they have properly performed the duty of a human being and have satisfied God. Moreover, they will be commended by God, because God gives great blessings to all those who sincerely expend themselves for Him. Those who cling to the enjoyments of family and flesh and cannot abandon everything to follow God are all ones who are devoted to the devil Satan. They certainly cannot be saved by God, and particularly will not have God’s blessing.

from The Fellowship From the Above