The Cost of Discipleship

Now great crowds accompanied him, and he turned and said to them, “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. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.
Luke 14:25–33
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The Cost of Discipleship
Idolatry is most often seen not when we worship other gods but when we want God to conform to our idea of who He should be. We want to dictate to God the rules of our salvation. We want first-class treatment at an economy-class price. “I’ll believe and follow you, Jesus, if it doesn’t get in the way of what I want to do.” But that is not how it is to be. Jesus illustrates the unconditional nature of discipleship. The demands of discipleship should not be taken lightly, they change everything about who we once were and who we are expected to be. Consider them and be ready to meet them. Do not complain about the cost of discipleship. But look to the demands our salvation placed on the Son of God, who gave up all things for us. He is your tower and refuge of strength. Cling to His cross and know salvation is yours, because of what He has done.