The first prerequisite to following Christ is to deny yourself.  Luke 9: 23  "...If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me."

I should have remembered this verse when I was eating a bag of Cheetos every day.  Fifty bags of Cheetos later, they don't taste as good.  All food  needs to be eaten with restraint.  Or you will end up overweight or sick.  And that is not how God intends for you to live.

"Come after me."  That means that Jesus gets to do the leading.  You get to do the following.  And the four gospels are very clear as to what he would lead us to do.  And what he would lead us to be.

"Deny yourself."  There are so many areas of our lives that we need to practice self-denial.  Food, drink, wasting time, sleeping late to excess...etc.  But just denying yourself and not filling the time with something better isn't what Jesus had in mind.  He meant for us to submit to his will.

"Take up your cross."  Maybe it is the cross of self-denial.  Maybe it is the cross of illness.  Or loneliness.  Or discipline.  Or finishing what you start.  Or exercise. Or.  Or.  Or.....There are things we have to do.  How we do them is what the world sees.  Somedays, I miss Ken so much that I hurt.  But what good does it do for anyone else for me to complain.  Or mope.  Or be sad.  It's counterproductive.  We were happy for 57 years.  I have that.  It was joy.

"Daily."  Luke--the physician--is the only writer who quotes Jesus and includes this word.  He made sure he got the prescription for following Christ exactly right.  You have to keep at it every day.

"And follow me."  This is a lifetime commitment.  You may stumble. You may fall.  But sometimes you will skip, hop or jump as you follow him.  Just be sure you keep your eyes on him and where he is going so that you don't trip over your own two feet.   He will make a trail for you to follow.