Count The Cost

I think of this subject at times and I think it is important.  I know this may be news to some people but there is a cost to following Jesus.  I know grace is a free gift and so is salvation, we receive them by the Lord’s un-merited favor, something that none of us deserve, praise the Lord.  But, following the Lord after being born-again is our responsibility.  To make the right choices and to walk on the straight and narrow road is up to us.  There is a wide road that leads to destruction, and many have, and are, walking that road!  

When the Lord saves us He puts our feet on the straight and narrow road that leads to Him and is kingdom and we start out with a clean slate, so to speak, and everything seems great.  We have finally come home and the Lord’s heart has touched our hearts and we are one in Him.  We have been set free from the enslavement of sin and have been covered with the Lord’s righteousness.  Some of us have been delivered from habits that we could never have been set free of unless the Lord had poured out His precious grace, love and mercy upon us.  How can we ever thank and praise Him enough for what He has done in our lives?

Now it is our turn to show our appreciation for what He has done for us.  We need to be obedient and serve and seek the Lord with all our hearts and not be conformed to the world.  If we love the things of the world, we will become enemies of the Lord and none of us want that to happen if we love Him.  Some believers seem shocked when they announce that they have become believers in Jesus and they lose some of their so called friends and even some of their family members.  Some believers don’t realize that this is part of the cost of being united with Jesus.

Jesus said this in Matthew 10:34-36, “Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. For I have come to ‘set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law’; and ‘a man’s enemies will be those of his own household.’”

Remember this, the Lord’s presence demands a decision and His Word is offensive to the lost soul.  No matter how much we want every one of our family members saved they will have to make that choice for themselves, just like we did, but we should never stop praying for them and that includes your friends or family that have abandoned you when you made the right choice to follow the Master.  Like I said there is a cost to following the Lord, but it is worth it.  The cost of following Jesus should be a privilege, one that is accepted without any excuses.  Think of the disciples that Jesus called; they left everything and followed Jesus with no ands, ifs or buts about it.

What about you, have you made the choice to repent and follow Jesus asking Him to be your Lord and Savior and to forgive you of your sins?  If the Lord is calling you today don’t make any excuses like the men in Luke 9:59-62 did, when Jesus said this to them, “Then He said to another, ‘Follow Me.’ But he said, ‘Lord, let me first go and bury my father.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of God.’ And another also said, ‘Lord, I will follow You, but let me first go and bid them farewell who are at my house.’ But Jesus said to him, ‘No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.’”

Jesus wants complete dedication, commitment and obedience from us, not a halfhearted commitment.  Jesus says to take up our cross and deny ourselves and follow Him, which is not easy to do, but all these things are part of the cost of following Jesus.  Following Jesus is not always fun, the road is full of tribulation, trials and even persecution at times, but the joy of following Him is unsurpassed and His peace, love and joy can be found nowhere else, it is amazing.  And just knowing that whatever we suffer, He loves us and He is always with us and that makes it worth it all.  

Something to think about!  May the Lord bless you and have a super day!!