Today we will look at the cost of following Jesus. In these verses, Jesus is offering us an invitation, of following hard after him, through a clear illustration. As Christians today, we are well aware of the benefits of faith in Jesus but not many of us consider the cost of doing so. Our society today is one
that seeks instant gratification and the easy way of doing things. Following Jesus is not as easy as this. These verses point out that everything in our lives need to be secondary to Jesus.
In these illustrations Jesus has a lot to say. The most important being that in order to follow Jesus and to receive the gift of eternal life, we need to make sacrifices. We need to count the cost of our discipleship by
recognising and agreeing to follow him according to his plan not our own. We cannot follow Jesus and the ways of the world at the same time. Following Jesus may mean that we will need to sacrifice our dreams, material things, relationships and even our own life.
Following Jesus means counting the cost of being God’s child. There will be tough times, there will be things God will ask of us that we won’t like. If
we are not aware of the cost of our discipleship, we may find that God’s way will conflict with ours and we may feel betrayed and turn away to find something else to gratify our selfish desires.
Approaching Christianity because the idea of eternal life, escaping “hell” and having Jesus “on tap” is appealing – but not wanting to leave the worldly life, desires, lifestyle, sinful habits – will only lead to
heartache and emptiness. In these verses Jesus is talking to those who are not willing to let go of all to follow him. Salvation takes more than a lifestyle change or performing good deeds. Following Christ means that we release control of our lives. “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.” (Phil 1:21) Following Christ is true living, but to do so, we must first count the cost of following him.
