Consider The Cost

"Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, saying, 'This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.' In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple. ~ Luke 14:28-30, 33

Too often marriages begin without a real consideration of what it takes to see it through to the finish. Young romance blinds couples to the harsh realities of life together. It requires surrender to Christ and His covenant with us as married couples. Recently I read that the chief purpose of marriage is to reflect Christ in our love for one another. This transformed love shapes godly children and blesses other family and friends. Are you surrendering everything for Christ to change you?

Jesus comes from a Hebrew prophetic tradition that often uses harsh rhetoric in order to grab attention. Such comments demand a response. The faint of heart and disinterested will fall away, but those who truly love God with their whole heart, mind, soul, and strength will want to come closer to understand Jesus. They will come to discover there are greater things requiring their attention than wealth making or even daily needs like food, drink and clothing. Jesus promises that God takes care of His own (Mat. 6:25-34). Those who walk by faith are moved by God’s promises and not by the current customs of the world. They gain a greater appreciation for the riches that God gives to every soul that places His right ways and His community above all things. Jesus promised that those who leave family, jobs and houses for kingdom work will gain 100 times the family and homes in this life and in the new age (Mark 10:28-30).

All this rhetoric should not be literalized. When we offer a tithe, we don’t wait with a ledger for the 10,000% return. The point is that when our attentions and passions are occupied by money-making, family building, career advancement or pleasure seeking, we will not be free to give God unfettered allegiance. Our hearts will belong elsewhere and God will get the leftovers. And we cannot serve more than one master (Mat. 6:24). His challenge serves to help us sift through all that grabs our attention. We learn to separate the wheat from the chaff. Jesus’ challenge sifted the crowd and those left were on the way to a sincere following of Jesus Christ.

Consider Jesus’ warning to the crowds and evaluate the cost of discipleship. It means everything changes. His mission of redemption in the world becomes your mission above all other concerns. Discuss with your spouse how you feel about this. How might you move your attentions from family building, career building or wealth building to a wholehearted mission of kingdom building through witness in word and deed?

To give up everything is to lay all things at your disposal at the Master’s feet and ask His direction on how to use it for His glory and the building of His community of faith. As we plan the New Year, how might we make the appropriate dedication of all things to Christ’s disposal as an act of discipleship? Will we fall away or draw closer and discover the fulfillment of His promises for eternal riches?