How valuable to you is your walk with Christ? What are you willing to give up to follow Him? If you are honest, what is it that you have not been willing to give up thus far? You may say, “I’ve tried but it’s hard.” or the famous, “God knows my heart,” or maybe in your intellectual mindset, you may even say, “God wouldn’t ask me to give up that or not do this to follow Him.” I would encourage you to let the word of God be your guide in determining what God really requires of those who have fully committed to following Him.
“As they were walking along, someone said to Jesus, “I will follow you wherever you go.” But Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens to live in, and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place even to lay his head.” He said to another person, “Come, follow me.”The man agreed, but he said, “Lord, first let me return home and bury my father.” But Jesus told him, “Let the spiritually dead bury their own dead! Your duty is to go and preach about the Kingdom of God.” Another said, “Yes, Lord, I will follow you, but first let me say good-bye to my family.” But Jesus told him, “Anyone who puts a hand to the plow and then looks back is not fit for the Kingdom of God.” Luke 9:57-62
In this passage of scripture, we see that nothing is placed in a higher priority than following Christ. We see that there are no “discounts” or “breaks” or “free passes” for any situation that involves the cares of the world. In the flesh this may seem cold but reality is there are many who do kind and caring things in lieu of doing exactly what God has called them to do and as such will be considered “not fit for the Kingdom of God.” Remember the scripture- “obedience is better than sacrifice?” 1 Samuel 15:22. You can give until it hurts but if God has asked you to serve in an area and you have refused, this disobedience is counted greater than any gift you could ever give.
Don’t keep looking for the discounted way-it doesn’t exist and its false “savings” are misleading at best. Reality is the costs of following Christ are great. Sadly, many have turned their Christian walk into professional ritual that will be valued as irrelevant to what is expected of those fully committed to following Christ. Not merely because it is not what Christ desires but more so because Christ knows it is not enough to stand the tests of the hardships and pain which are the way of anyone (and were even more so in that day) fully committed to following Him.
Quit looking to cash-in coupons of “less stress” and “easy route”. If you’ve been given any, they are counterfeit. For in this Christian walk, there are NO discounts. It will cost you dearly to pick up your cross and follow Him. Are you willing to pay full price?