Luke 14:25-33 (NIV) The Cost of Being a Disciple
25 Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: 26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple. 27 And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.
28 “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? 29 For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, 30 saying, ‘This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish.’
31 “Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Won’t he first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? 32 If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. 33 In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples.
Do you think Jesus wants you to hate your family? He has spent so much time telling you to love your neighbor. Why would he ask you to hate your family? It doesn’t make sense. When I see things like this, I ask myself what is He trying to teach us? He is teaching us to count the cost.
How much will it cost to complete a project? If you want to put on an addition to your house, you go out and get estimates. From those estimates, you can determine if you can afford the addition. Jean and I did that a few years back when we were considering an addition. What we found was the cost was too high for the benefit we would receive. We decided not to go ahead.
What is the cost of following Jesus? You cannot consider money alone. There are many things to consider. There are time, talent and treasure to consider. Time is something that once spent can never be retrieved, Time includes eternity. My friend Brock always asks me what I am willing to give up in order to begin a new undertaking. There are only so many hours per week available so it is a very valid question.
What does it mean to follow Jesus? Doesn’t it mean that we are no longer going to live our lives for ourselves, but for Him? What does that look like? What would you be willing to give up in order to follow Jesus? It may cost you everything including your life. Is it worth it? Only you can decide. But for me, it is!
A number of years ago, I was at a Church meeting where we opened with some sort of devotional. We paired up and did the devotional. There is a method of asking the same question several times of a person to see the path the answers take. The question that night was “What would it grieve you to have to give up in order to follow Jesus?” I asked the question of my partner first. She gave me a long list of things like, her home, her education, her family and other things. When it was my turn, I said “Nothing!” I had come to a place in my spiritual walk where I knew everything I had was a gift from Jesus. I have come to trust Him. As a result of that trust, I know He would never take anything from me unless He was going to give me something better. He gave Jean to me. Why would He take her from me? It reminds me of the story of Abraham being asked to sacrifice his only son Isaac. Abraham went ahead with the plan and was about to follow through on God’s request when the angel of the Lord called out to him to stop him. Isaac was the Promise God had given Abraham. God would not take away that Promise.
Our focus has been on giving things up to follow Jesus. Since He is the God of abundance and blessing, might we look at this differently? What if Jesus wants you to put Him first in all your thoughts and decisions? What if He wants to be Lord of your life? Maybe He wants to direct your steps and lead you to all the blessings He has stored up for you. Instead of giving up everything for Him, it seems to me He gave everything up for you because He loves you that much! How much? Enough that He gave His own life for you. You are that important to Him!
Lord Jesus, I thank you that you love us enough to give Yourself up for us! By Your Spirit, please guide us in Your ways that we might bring glory to Your Holy Name. Help us to live for You. In Your name we pray.