As Christians, we celebrate the fact that salvation is free (Romans 3:24). It’s wonderful to know that there is nothing we can do to earn our salvation and to understand that God paid the full price for the forgiveness of our sins on the cross of Christ (John 3:16; Ephesians 2:8-9; Titus 3:5). But there is a cost to following Jesus. Discipleship requires “discipline”. As a matter of fact, following Jesus as He deserves to be followed costs everything, all that we are and all that we have.
Read today’s text and notice the explicit statements of Jesus concerning the kind of commitment He is calling every one of us to…
A large crowd was following Jesus. He turned around and said to them, “If you want to be my disciple, you must, by comparison, hate everyone else—your father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even your own life. Otherwise, you cannot be my disciple. And if you do not carry your own cross and follow me, you cannot be my disciple. “But don’t begin until you count the cost. For who would begin construction of a building without first calculating the cost to see if there is enough money to finish it? Otherwise, you might complete only the foundation before running out of money, and then everyone would laugh at you. They would say, ‘There’s the person who started that building and couldn’t afford to finish it!’ “Or what king would go to war against another king without first sitting down with his counselors to discuss whether his army of 10,000 could defeat the 20,000 soldiers marching against him? And if he can’t, he will send a delegation to discuss terms of peace while the enemy is still far away. So you cannot become my disciple without giving up everything you own. “Salt is good for seasoning. But if it loses its flavor, how do you make it salty again? Flavorless salt is good neither for the soil nor for the manure pile. It is thrown away. Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand!”” (Luke 14:25–35, NLT)
Now that you have read over today’s text in the New Living Translation, read it again in your favorite translation. And make a list of the specific areas of your life the Holy Spirit is calling you to step up and surrender to Him. We cannot call ourselves Christ’s disciples if we are living as half-hearted Christians. Jesus rebuked the church of Laodicea in the book of Revelation for being “luke-warm”. “Luke-warm” means “room temperature”. It is a description of being no different than your environment. Do you stand out as different from your coworkers, neighbors and relatives? If you are Christ’s disciple, you really should.
He gave his life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to make us his very own people, totally committed to doing good deeds.” (Titus 2:14, NLT)
Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So, you must honor God with your body.”
(1 Corinthians 6:19–20, NLT)
Be a true follower of Jesus. He gave His all for you. Give your all to Him.
Pastor Mike