The Cost
Matthew 4:18, “Now as Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon who was called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea ; for they were fishermen. 19 And He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” 20 Immediately they left their nets and followed Him. 21 Going on from there He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets ; and He called them. 22 Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him.”
Dietrich Boenhoffer the great German theologan who was executed by the Nazi regime just a few days prior to the end of World War II for his resistance wrote one of the all time great instruction books on being a disciple of Christ. While he was in a concentration camp Boenhoffer wrote the book, “The Cost of Discipleship”. In the opening pages of that book he writes this simple, easy to understand sentence, “When Christ calls a man he bids him to come and die.”
In todays culture we have a tendency to read the sometimes hard words of Christ and think He really did not mean that. He really meant this….. Sometimes the words of Christ, and His requirements for truly following Him make us uneasy, and we try to soften their impact by changing a word here or there. These slight changes or interpretations that we make lessen the cost on us for what it truly means to be a disciple of Christ. But it also contradicts the Word of God, and can make us less effective in His Kingdom. Jesus Christ was pretty straightforward, no He was VERY straightforward when it came to the cost, and when we try to lessen the hardships that discipleship may cost us, or others we are perverting the Word. Below are a few examples of what Christ said the requirement of being His Disciple is. I invite you to read these words; pray over them, and understand that the cost of being a Disciple of Christ is very high.
Luke 9:57 “As they were going along the road, someone said to Him, “I will follow You wherever You go.” 58 And Jesus said to him, “The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” 59 And He said to another, “Follow Me.” But he said, “Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father.” 60 But He said to him, “Allow the dead to bury their own dead ; but as for you, go and proclaim everywhere the kingdom of God.” 61 Another also said, “I will follow You, Lord ; but first permit me to say good-bye to those at home.” 62 But Jesus said to him, “No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”
Luke 14:25, “Now large crowds were going along with Him; and He turned and said to them, 26 “If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple. 27 “Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. 28 “For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it? 29 “Otherwise , when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who observe it begin to ridicule him, 30 saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ 31 “Or what king, when he sets out to meet another king in battle, will not first sit down and consider whether he is strong enough with ten thousand men to encounter the one coming against him with twenty thousand ? 32 “Or else, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. 33 “So then, none of you can be My disciple who does not give up all his own possessions. 34 “Therefore, salt is good ; but if even salt has become tasteless, with what will it be seasoned ? 35 “It is useless either for the soil or for the manure pile ; it is thrown out. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
The cost of being a true disciple of Christ is high, but the cost of not being a disciple is even higher.
Jesus said in Matthew 13:44 “The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid again; and from joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. 45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls, 46 and upon finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it. 47 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet cast into the sea, and gathering fish of every kind ; 48 and when it was filled, they drew it up on the beach ; and they sat down and gathered the good fish into containers, but the bad they threw away. 49 “So it will be at the end of the age ; the angels will come forth and take out the wicked from among the righteous, 50 and will throw them into the furnace of fire ; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
The cost of Discipleship is everything you have on this earth, but you will receive far more than you lost when you are rewarded by God. The cost of nondiscipleship is nothing on this earth, but God will banish you from His presence in Heaven where you will spend an eternity in the fiery torment of hell.
As Joshua said in Joshua 24:15 “If it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve… If you choose to serve your flesh the rewards may be splendid on this earth, but the eternal reality will be tremendously horrific!
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Father, I thank You for giving me the choice of serving you, and I ask that You remind me of the great reward that I will receive after I have served You on this earth. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
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