“27 And if you do not carry your own cross and follow me, you cannot be my disciple. 28 “But don’t begin until you count the cost.”
Luke 14:27-28
The Costs vs. The Benefits
The Cost Of Following Jesus
What does a relationship with our creator cost? Well, in the simplest of terms, it costs us EVERYTHING! Not that we can earn our salvation, but if we are going to be led by God and live according to His purposes rather than our own (and this certainly isn't too much to ask as He is our creator), we are going to have to give up our old lives, our ways of living, our plans for the future, our personal desires, and everything that we were pursuing prior to coming to Jesus for salvation.
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We read in Mark 8, “34 Then, calling the crowd to join his disciples, he (Jesus) said, 'If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. 35 If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News, you will save it.'” Notice here, as we discussed previously, Jesus is asking us to "give up our own way" (give up our purpose, our desires, our hopes and dreams, etc.), "take up our cross" (which is to die to ourselves), and follow Him (do the things He did, live like He lived, focus on what He focused on, etc.). These are all ways of saying, give up your old ways of living, so I can teach you a new and better way.
Many times, people want to hang on to their old lives, and just add Jesus to the mix, but this never works. We only have enough time and strength to live out one purpose, either ours OR God's. We cannot live out both. For this reason, Jesus warns, "35 If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News, you will save it." (Mark 8:35) He's saying, let go of the old life, and let me teach you how to live better, healthier, and according to your creator's guidelines. If you let go, I can lead you to Heaven, if you try to hang on to your old life, you'll miss out on salvation. In Luke 14, Jesus went so far as to say, “33 So you cannot become my disciple without giving up everything you own.” Now, is He really suggesting that we sell all of our worldly possessions and just live in the street? No, He's saying, that we need to surrender everything to God's control. If He says keep it and enjoy, that's what you do. If He says, give it to the poor, you do it without question. Giving up everything and giving up our lives, doesn't necessarily mean we're going to have to live in poverty or have no fun in life, it just means that we have to give up control, and let Him be the leader.
It seems like a big price to pay at first glance, but when you really start to consider what happening in this transformation, it's not really a big sacrifice at all. Imagine a 5-year-old child, living on the street, with no family. He has NO RULES, NO BOUNDRIES, and NO ONE TELLING HIM WHAT TO DO. He is completely FREE!!! However, He is also homeless, has no means of sustaining himself and providing for his needs, and he has no security whatsoever! Now imagine that this 5-year-old, is approached by a kind and loving man (with a very positive track record as a Father and provider), and given the opportunity to be adopted into his family. As an adopted child, he would have a home, a warm bed, brothers and sisters to hang out with, love and guidance from his new parents, food to eat, clothes to wear, and in addition, He would receive an inheritance as one of the father's children. The only catch is that he would have to give up his freedom and agree to let the Father lead him! You would probably admit, this is a pretty good deal, and you would likely encourage this child to give up his freedom to do as he pleases, and enter into this Father's family.
Now here's the thing, this scenario almost perfectly reflects your situation if you do not yet have a relationship with God. You are free to do as you please, but you have NO future past your short life on this earth, you have NO hope to hang onto, and you are heading quickly to a place of eternal destruction. God, who is loving, kind, and has everything you will ever need, has agreed to adopt you into His family. He will provide you everything you need (Matthew 6:33), He will guide and direct you, He will give you an eternal inheritance in His kingdom in Heaven, and He will provide a family to hang out with while you're here on earth (the church). The only thing He asks, is that You let Him be the Father, and that you live by His rules. We think you should definitely take the deal!!!!
The Benefits Of Following Jesus
Now on to the good part - the benefits! Well, in all honesty, the benefits are too numerous to list here on this one page, or for that matter, on this one website. Jesus once described it like this, "44 The Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure that a man discovered hidden in a field. In his excitement, he hid it again and sold everything he owned to get enough money to buy the field." (Matthew 13:44) What He's saying here, is that when a person realizes just HOW AMAZING it is to know God and have the opportunity to live with Him FOREVER in His presence in the perfection of Heaven, he will gladly give up everything He owns and everything that is his current life so that he can obtain it. If you can even catch a glimpse of how awesome it is to know God personally and get the most basic understanding of what a future in Heaven might look like, you'll see that giving up control to a LOVING, ALL KNOWING, and PERFECT Heavenly Father, is a NO BRAINER!
A Few Of The Many Benefits Of Being A Christ-Follower:
Guidance Along The Absolute Best Pathway For Your Life
Imagine this, the creator of the universe, who knows you better than you know yourself, who knows the future, who knows how everything fits together and how one person's plan effects another's, and who loves you and absolutely wants you to succeed, is agreeing to guide you along the best path for your life! That's beyond fantastic! In Psalm 32, we read “8 The Lord says, “I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you.” People pay good money for counseling, financial planning advise, and other types of advice from people who are imperfect, don't have all the details, and don't really care about them. Your Heavenly Father, who IS perfect, who DOES love you, and who HAS all the facts, says He will guide you along the best possible pathway. Now that is good news!
A Rich & Satisfying Life This Side Of Eternity
Most people assume that salvation only helps you in the life to come; however, anyone who has crossed the line of salvation knows that life gets better immediately when you let Jesus into your heart. Jesus says Himself in John 10, “10 The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.” Once we enter into a relationship with the Lord, He gives us a new purpose, He gives us a new vision for our lives, and He gives us a new family to do it all with. When we begin to live out that new purpose and begin to allow God to use us to make eternal differences in the lives of the people around us, we begin to understand what a rich and satisfying life really is!
God Will Cause Everything To Work For Your Good
God has been called the "Great Orchestrator". Although, He is currently allowing freewill, and therefore evil, to take place on the earth, He is still a sovereign God, which means He has the last word on every single thing that goes down. That's why people can pray for protection, and then God saves them from something that would have happened, without God's intervention, caused them harm or even death. At the same time, evil can happen to others, and it results in harm or death. For Christ-followers, there is a promise from the "Great Orchestrator" that is as follows, "28 And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them." (Romans 8:28) This means that regardless of what others do, regardless of our mistakes, regardless of the mistakes of others, and regardless of what we fail to do that we should have done, God will cause all these things to work together for our benefit, one way or the other. This means, we have nothing to fear. Even if we do end up dying, it will also be for our benefit, because we will wake up in God's presence where there is no more sin, no more pain, and no more tears.
All Your Needs Will Be Met
When someone crosses the line of salvation and are adopted into God's family, He now assumes the responsibility for their needs (if they trust Him). As any good human father, He isn't going to necessarily meet all of our "greed's" and spoil us rotten, but He will make sure our basic needs are met. The apostle Paul says in Philippians 4, "19 And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus." This is why Jesus teaches us in Matthew 6, "31 'So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ 32 These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. 33 Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need." He's telling us here, not to expend any mental energy worrying about our physical needs, but instead, focus on seeking to grow His kingdom (in strength and numbers) and seek to live to please our Heavenly Father (by living Holy and righteous lives), and He will take care of all our needs. They don't call Him our Heavenly FATHER for nothing!
You Will Be Given Power To Live On
Since God gives us a new purpose and direction for life at the time of our salvation, and new work to do in the "family business", He also provides us with POWER to carry out our new work. Paul, praying for the church in Ephesus, includes this in His prayer, "19 I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power 20 that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms." (Ephesians 1:19-20) He wanted the church in Ephesus (as well as the rest of us) to understand they were no longer living powerless lives, but rather, had access to the same power that raised Jesus from the dead. Notice here, He is talking about this great power that is "FOR US", who believe Him! This is why in 1 Corinthians 4, we read " 20 For the Kingdom of God is not just a lot of talk; it is living by God’s power." God gives us, power to live on and to assist us as we do the work He has assigned us to do.
You Will Be Given The Holy Spirit
The greatest benefit of all, while we are living on this planet, is that God gives us the gift of the Holy Spirit. When receive this gift, God's Spirit takes up residence inside of us, giving us guidance, power, encouragement, conviction, etc. In Acts 2, we read "38 Peter replied, “Each of you must repent of your sins and turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 This promise is to you, to your children, and to those far away—all who have been called by the Lord our God.” As a Holy and loving God, the greatest gift He could ever give us is HIMSELF, and that's exactly what He gives us... HIS SPIRIT. This gift gives us confidence that we are in His family, and helps us as we go about our human existence on the earth.
You Will Live Eternally With Your Creator In Heaven
Not only does having a relationship with Jesus give us instantaneous benefits, but it also gives us an eternal blessing. Jesus tells us in Matthew 19, “29 And everyone who has given up houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or property, for my sake, will receive a hundred times as much in return and will inherit eternal life.” Further, in John 14, He says "2 There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? 3 When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am. 4 And you know the way to where I am going.” For those who give up their lives (as it was) and follow Jesus, He gives them a share in His inheritance. God promises to bring ALL of His children (those who truly gave their lives to Him) home to live with Him for ETERNITY, in His home in Heaven, when they die OR when Jesus returns. In His presence, we will live as He intended us to live, without sin, without pain, and without tears!