At times the Lord asks me to do things that seem a bit odd
to those around me. I have been in a
season of one of those times. I was
reading in the gospel of Mark and I came to chapter 8 verse 34: “If any of you wants to become My disciple he
must turn from his selfish way, take up his cross, and follow Me.” I realize Jesus spoke of that cross in a
metaphorical way, but on that particular day He asked me to take it literally
for a season. Right now I am wearing a
12inch wooden cross around my waist.
Yes, this gets me some odd looks
and it has pushed me out of my comfort zone on more than one occasion. The cross is not the point of today’s blog
(perhaps another time). Today I want to
bring up this question:
“If following Jesus
cost you everything, would it still be worth it?”
After I started wearing my cross I had about five people ask
me if I had read the book, “Not a fan” by Kyle Idleman. I had not but I felt the constant question
might be an indication that I should read it.
So the above question comes out of the “Not a fan” book. I read the question and thought about my
honest answer. I wanted to take a real assessment
and not give an “everyone in church is standing, so I will too” answer. I really felt at first that my answer was
yes. . .
If all of the sudden I lost my job, and then my house due to my job, and
then my husband to cancer, and my children in accidents. . . . Yes, I would still be a follower of Jesus
because He would be all I had to turn to.
My Rock; My Tower, My Comfort; etc.
Then I realized the question was not “If you lost everything would you
still serve God”. The question again is.
. .
“If following Jesus
cost you everything, would it still be worth it?”
Meaning if following Jesus was the reason you lost your job,
your home, your spouse, your children, would it still be worth it? If it was against the law in the US to hire
anyone who was a believer in Jesus Christ and I lost my job; would it be worth following
Him? I think I am still able to say,
yes! If my house was foreclosed on due
to the job loss that was due to following Christ, would it be worth it? I think I am still able to say, Yes! BUT. . .what if losing my husband was the
cost of following Jesus? What if my
husband was like Pastor
Youcef Nadarkhani who has been imprisoned in Iran 429 days for his resolve to
follow Jesus at all cost. What if he
lost his life in this process? Would I
still feel it was worth it to follow Jesus?
What if my children like Rachel Scott of Columbine High School were shot and killed
at school because they refused to deny their faith in Jesus? Would it still be worth following Him? I am now homeless, have lost the love of my
life and all of my children for the sake of His Name. . .
“If following Jesus
cost me everything, would it still be worth it?”
If that is not hard enough let’s look at Luke 14:26- "If anyone comes to Me and does not
hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and
his own life also, he cannot be My disciple.
Notice it
doesn’t say “he will be a ‘B’ disciple instead of and ‘A’ disciple”. . .it says
“he CANNOT be My disciple”. Now hate in
the verse actually translates: not to choose; or to hate in comparison to; but
still He is saying if you do not choose Me over all others your CANNOT be My
disciple. I am going to end this blog on
an abrupt note with the feeling of a good slap in the face or wake up call. .
.because that is how the question left me feeling as I assessed my answer. . .
to be honest. . .I am still in process of trying to give Him my yes. . .what
about you?
“If following Jesus
cost you everything, would it still be worth it?”
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