November 2
Luke 13-15
"And anyone who does not carry his cross and
follow me cannot be my disciple." (Luke 14:27, NIV)
The church is sometimes
guilty of trying to sell Jesus to people without reminding them that there is a
cost to following Jesus. When people came to jesus and wanted to follow Him, He
reminded them that there was a cost involved. Jesus does not just want us on
Sunday morning. He does not want just ten percent of our income as a tithe. He
does not just want a portion of our day or a portion of our relationships. He
wants all of us.
Jesus did not bait and
switch. He was up front in His expectations. He said it would be difficult. He
said wide is the road to destruction and narrow was the gate that leads to
life. He warned those who followed to count the cost. He gave the example of a
person building a tower and of a king preparing for war. If we were going to
build a house, we would figure out how much it cost before beginning. We would
not want to get the foundation and subfloors in only to run out of money and
have the weather ruin what we had. We would count the cost and would know if we
could pay the price.
If a king sees an enemy
coming towards his town, he will check out the enemy’s army. If he thinks he
can win the battle he will go and fight. If the enemy is too powerful, he will
try to negotiate. He would look at the situation and weigh the odds then make a
decision based on what he could afford in men and resources.
Jesus said in the same way we should count the cost of
following Him. "In the same way, any
of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple."
(Luke 14:33, NIV) It is expensive to
follow Jesus. Not monetarily, but He wants everything. He wants our hearts, our
minds, our dreams, our goals, our occupation, you name it and He wants us to
give it to Him. He will give us back what He wants us to have and when He gives
it back it is better than when we gave it to Him.
It costs everything to follow Jesus, but it is still a
bargain we cannot beat.
No comments:
Post a Comment