From Luke 14: 25 Now large crowds were traveling with him; and he turned and said to them, 26 "Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple. 27 Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. 28 For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not first sit down and estimate the cost, to see whether he has enough to complete it? 29 Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it will begin to ridicule him, 30 saying, "This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.' 31 Or what king, going out to wage war against another king, will not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to oppose the one who comes against him with twenty thousand? 32 If he cannot, then, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for the terms of peace. 33 So therefore, none of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions.
Grace is free; but it is not cheap. "Cheap grace is the grace we bestow on ourselves...the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, communion without confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship...Costly is the gospel which must be sought again and again, the gift which must be asked for, the door at which a man must knock... It is costly because it costs a man his life, and it is grace because it gives a man the only true life." (The actual quote comes from German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer in his book, "The Cost of Discipleship.")
Jesus' sermon includes a pricey list; we must let go of our fathers, mothers, wives and children, sisters and brothers, and "yes, and even life itself." If we cannot do this, Jesus said, we cannot be His disciples. He then goes on to illustrate the counting of the cost we anticipate it will cost us to truly follow Him. Can you build a building or tower without first sitting down and seeing how much it will cost and if you have enough? To have a half-built building is a shame and embarrassment. The same, Jesus says, with kings who wage wars without counting the lives it will take to wage this war. Then He starts meddling; you (we) must give up all of our possessions.
The fullness of life comes from surrendering all to Jesus and living a life that gives Him supreme authority over our lives. The person who says, "I'm a Christian," but chooses other things, including family, over following Jesus, is not a disciple. The person who says, 'I'm a Christian," but limits his/her area of ministry to the community in which he or she lives, is not a disciple. "Here I am" should be more than the words to a beautiful song; it should be the surrender of self to service.
Jesus never said it would be easy. And then again, Jesus was not looking for crowds; He was looking for true followers (and not on Twitter or Facebook), who have realized the great sacrifice it takes to be a Christian in the face of comfort and popularity. The first sacrifice is to put ourselves in Jesus' hands, realizing that He took our place on the cross, and paid the price we should have paid. The rest is easy compared to that.
PRAYER: Loving God, help me to place You in first place in my heart. Help me to realize that I must sacrifice whatever I have as leading and guiding my life, so that You might lead and guide me to faithful and fruitful service. This I pray in Jesus' name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
Eradio Valverde
