What does it cost for you to be in relationship with the LORD? It cost Jesus His life so that you could be right with God:
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” 1
Yes, it cost the LORD the earthly life of the Son of God, living in the flesh, with the death by crucifixion, so you could have the possibility of being redeemed, restored into full relationship with God. And what is the cost to you to enter into that full relationship? Are you willing to trust God fully, to be wholly committed to His way for your life, take His priorities as your own from the depths of your heart and to not turn back for lesser things?
And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself? For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. 27 But I tell you truly, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God.” 2
Jesus never deceived about the cost of coming into agreement with the LORD and was very upfront that it would cost all of the former ways if we were to be faithful in relationship with God. But then, He also gave the dramatic balance of the cost/benefit—that ‘what does it profit if you gain the whole world but lose all that matters with God?’ The irony of being a Christ-follower is giving up all that would hold your attention elsewhere to gain all that matters for eternity. There must be a commitment forward and not to the past:
As they were going along the road, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” To another he said, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” And Jesus said to him, “Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” Yet another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.” 3
Good intentions are not the same as wholehearted commitment. As an old farm boy I can attest that it is impossible to stay in a true straight line if you are looking over your shoulder at what is already past. The two examples in this parable are giving concessions to the hold of the past and demonstrate a ‘not now’ mentality toward God, a when-I-have-done-everything-else then I will have time for god stuff.
Jesus wasn’t harsh but He was definitive in explaining the cost of being right with God. It is an ‘all in’ commitment to relationship. Many wanted to tag along, to identify with Him, to be part of what they saw as a popular trend for crowds were following but Jesus warned of the cost:
And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.’” And he said to him, “Teacher, all these I have kept from my youth.” And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.4
While we may not be wealthy or even young, there likely are many things in our lives that hold our attention and tug on our heart. Jesus calls us to a new allegiance, turning our full priorities to what is paramount to the LORD above all else. That does not mean that we forsake all obligations but it does mean that God has priority above all else, that His agenda is first. When the disciples heard the context of what Jesus was saying, they asked the obvious:
When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished, saying, “Who then can be saved?” But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” 5
Conversion, the change of the heart in repentance, the commitment by faith to follow the LORD’s Way in Jesus and the laying down of our rights to be replaced with His Way, is impossible by the flesh but it is fully possible in God.
All Scripture references from the Blue Letter Bible, ESV
at https://www.blueletterbible.org
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version
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