Count the cost

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF LUKE

COUNT THE COST

Luke 14:28-33

8 "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? 29 For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, 30 saying, 'This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.' 31 "Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Will he not first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? 32 If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. 33 In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.

NIV

These words of Jesus are still within the context of his talking about loving him more than anything else, especially as he pointed out other beloved people in our lives. Now he tells two parables that make somewhat of the same point. This is that being his disciple has a cost, first as he already said, it costs even our own life, our own desires, our own ambitions, dreams and goals. Now he says as we have decided to follow him, to be his disciple we first need to finish what we started. We cannot be his disciple half way, only doing a portion of what a disciple does. If we are going to follow him then we need to follow him all the way, to the end. This is where some believer become ridiculed by the world. They say they are believers, followers of Jesus, Christians, but they are not finishing what they started. Some believers claim to follow Jesus but the fact is they are not finishing it, they have become distracted by the things of the world. This is the second parable's meaning. When we become disciples of Christ both the world, and Satan, who is the prince of this world will come with all his power and might to destroy us. He will bring all the things of this world, all the temptations of this world to bear upon us. We need to sit down and consider the strength of the enemy and know in our hearts we cannot overcome him without the full power of the Spirit within us. Being a believer, a disciple of Jesus is not a part time gig, it is all encompassing. If we are not willing to give up all our own thing for Jesus, then we cannot be his disciple. If we continue to pursue after our own desires, our own passions in life, we cannot be his disciple. Does this mean we cannot have things? Does this mean we should not try to be successful in life? Does this mean we should not strive to be the most we can be? Have we not considered the cost of being a disciple? Does God want us to be poor and homeless, giving up everything we have? That seems absurd to even consider it. But what he does want is for us to seek him with our whole being first and foremost. He does not want us serving him with a divided heart. He said we need to seek him first, he will provide all the stuff we need in life, that stuff all the unbelievers strive to accumulate. Yet it still comes down to being his disciple full time, finishing the race, continuing to trust in him, to have hope in him, to look to him for all our need. We cannot get sidetracked by the temptations of life. God has a plan for our lives, he has his will for us, which of course starts with our believing in him, accepting his Son as our Savior, but then his will continues for every aspect of our lives. There is a cost and it is our own will, which we must continually yield to him. We cannot even do that without the power of the Spirit. We cannot survive without God, without Jesus, without the Spirit. This is the cost of peace with God.