I was having a hard time deciding what I wanted for breakfast. I knew I wanted some blueberry pancakes, but I was wondering about adding something else. “How much would it cost if I added some scrabbled eggs?” I asked Ricky.
“Quite a bit,” Rick replied. “I think it has to do with supply and demand, but eggs are real expensive right now.” He told me the price the eggs would add to the price of my breakfast and I decided that was more than I wanted to pay. “I’ll just have the pancakes,” I said.
“You got it,” Ricky said as he left to tell Cook what we wanted.
“That was a good thing to ask,” Stan said after Ricky was gone. “Kind of like what Jesus said to do.”
“How so?” I replied, “And please don’t tell me that Jesus talked about the cost of eggs!”
“He didn’t” Stan said with a laugh, “but He did talk about the counting the cost.”
“The cost of what?” I asked.
“Just about everything,” Stan replied, “but it looks to me like He really focused on the cost of discipleship.”
“The cost of discipleship? How so?”
“It’s in Luke’s gospel,” Stan replied. “Jesus was talking to a bunch of people, telling them what it means to be a disciple. He asked them a question about counting the cost of building something before they started building it.”
“Oh,” I said, “like seeing if they had enough money to build. Is that it?”
“Yeah,” Stan replied. “Seeing if they had enough to build. But, also, it seems to me that Jesus was telling them (and us) to consider if that’s how we want to spend what we have. To think about the cost and decide if that’s want we want to do.”
“Well,” I said, “if that’s true, how much does it cost to be a disciple?”
“Everything,” Stan replied.
“Everything? How can that be?”
“Looks to me,” Stan said, “that when I am to deny myself, that means all of me. And when I’m to take up what God has for me to take up, that means all of what He has for me. And, of course, following means however, wherever, and whenever. And that covers everything.”
“That makes discipleship sound like it costs a lot,” I replied. “Maybe that’s why some people decide that it costs too much and that’s more than they want to pay.”
“It does, doesn’t it?” Stan replied.
___________________________________
Bible verses to consider:
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? Luke 14:28.
And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.” Luke 9:23.
And He summoned the multitude with the disciples, and said to them, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life shall lose it; and whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s shall save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul? For what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” Mark 8:34-38.
Prayer: Thank you, Father, for giving your only begotten Son to go to the cross and pay the price for my salvation and redemption. Thank you for allowing me to accept your free and gracious provision of life eternally with you, both for when my time here is finished, and for the time I have on this side of eternity. I confess that too often I’m not willing to pay the price for being a disciple. I don’t deny myself, I don’t take up what you have for me to take up, and I don’t follow as you intend. Please forgive that foolishness, and please help me follow every step of your lead so I am yours in everything, whatever that may cost. Thank you that I can and do bring these prayers before you in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Think on this: Jesus paid the price to redeem the lost world. Have you accepted God’s free and gracious provision so you have life eternally with Him? If no, why? What’s keeping you separated from God and all He has for you? If you are a Christian with the assurance of salvation and redemption, how are you doing with the cost of discipleship? Are there certain aspects of denying yourself, taking up what God has for you to take up, and following that you consider to cost more than your willing to pay? If you sense the need for change in any of this, how is that going to happen? Is that what you want? Why or why not?
Waiting for the Train 
I’m reminded by this that a big component to being “strong in the Lord and the power of His might” is practicing discipleship in conjunction with informing others about the Good News!
When there is “a cost” to something it helps in resisting the temptation to have an attitude of enablement. I see it all around with regard to social programs. Hand outs without “a cost” rarely, if ever, has a positive outcome…A hand up that comes with a cost that requires effort, often times, if not always results in a positive outcome…
Commitment offers opportunity for the one who is giving a hand up, as well as the receiver of the hand up (not hand out).
Jesus always provides a win win opportunity when His ways are practiced. As we realize there is ALWAYS a cost to something worthwhile, we then can be inspired to practice what brings what the second half of the verse written in John 10:10 informs “…an ”abundant life” (not necessarily an easy life) that comes with following Jesus.
LikeLike