The Cost of Discipleship—Have You Counted the Cost?
There is a cost to following Jesus. To be a disciple of Christ and not just a professing Christian or religious Christian has a cost and price to pay. It is a narrow road, and it is difficult and littered with persecutions, reproach, and separation. It is not a walk in the park. Being a disciple of Christ is not a cool thing; it is not being a member of a church institution or even doing things in the name of Jesus. It is a lifestyle of absolute surrender to the ways of Jesus and the will of God.
There were two distinct reactions from those who followed Jesus, and it is the same even today:
1. The multitudes: Only wanted to follow him for miracles and blessings
“This is a difficult teaching. Who can accept it?”…From that time on many of His disciples turned back and no longer walked with Him.” John 6:60,66
2. Peter and the other 11 disciples: Willing to follow him no matter what!
“So Jesus asked the Twelve, “Do you want to leave too?” Simon Peter replied, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that You are the Holy One of God.” John 6:67-69
“Here are a few things Jesus himself mentioned as the cost of following Him. Have you counted the cost?”
Matthew 16:24-25: Self-denial
“Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.”
Matthew 10:34-39: Separation
“Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household. He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me. He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.”
Luke 9:23-25: Losing one’s life and self-will
Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost?
Luke 9:57-60: Uncertainty and Unattachment
“And it came to pass, that, as they went in the way, a certain man said unto him, Lord, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest. And Jesus said unto him, Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head. And he said unto another, Follow me. But he said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God.”
Luke 14:26-33: Loving Jesus more than everyone
If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple. For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it? Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him, Saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish. Or what king, going to make war against another king, sitteth not down first, and consulteth whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand? Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sendeth an ambassage, and desireth conditions of peace. So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.”
John 15:19: Being hated by the world
“If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.”
Matthew 5:29-30: Cutting off stumbling blocks
“If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell.”
Matthew 6:24: Choosing Jesus over money
“No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.”
Matthew 6:19-21: Laying up treasures in heaven
“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
Matthew 5:11-12: Persecution, slander, and reproach
“Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”
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Have you given your life to Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior? He loves us so much that he, our creator, left heaven and came to earth, died for us on the cross taking our sins upon him so that we may be forgiven and receive his righteousness. He conquered death by rising from the dead and made a way for us who were dead in sin to be reconciled back to the Father (God). What’s more, he has prepared a wonderful home for us in Heaven, where those who love him and obey him will spend eternity with him. Learn more here about how to be born again and have eternal life after this brief life on earth.
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