People often talk about the high cost of following Jesus Christ. That is TRULY following Him. And one of the favorite passages we often relate to this discussion is Matthew 16:24, “Then Jesus told his disciples, ‘If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.'” And we remember the passage in Luke 14, “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.” (verses 26-27). And those passages that relate to us the words of Jesus Christ are true about what it costs to follow Him and draw closer to Him and learn to live as He lived.
However, we often stop short in that passage in Luke…let’s go on and read verse 33, “So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.” Did you catch that? “RENOUNCE ALL THAT HE HAS…” Wow…kind of a big cost isn’t it?
Here’s what John MacArthur says about it, “Only those willing to carefully assess the cost and invest all they had in his kingdom were worthy to enter. This speaks of something far more than abandonment of one’s material possessions; it is an absolute, unconditional surrender. His disciples were permitted to retain no privileges and make no demands. They were to safeguard no cherished sins; treasure no earthly possessions; and cling to no secret self-indulgences. Their committment to Him must be without reservation.”
If we want to TRULY KNOW HIM and all that He ALONE can do in our lives, we MUST not…in fact we CAN NOT, hang on to ANYTHING else – we must abandon all for Jesus. The word “renounce” means to “give up, to put aside”. In other words – NOTHING can be more important in our lives than Jesus Christ and God our Father.
Jesus said, “…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.” (Luke 9:23-24)
The cost is HIGH = EVERYTHING! But the rewards are Higher!! If you want to see God work in your life in amazing ways – be willing to pay the price!