What does it cost to follow Christ?
I remember when I first bought my motorcycle, I was very excited. I kept thinking about how I would take it for a nice long ride that weekend.
But I had one slight problem. I had never ridden before and I had no knowledge or skill.
I used a YouTube video to figure out how to shift.
That first weekend was spent puttering around the block, learning to shift. I remember a little kid waved at me. I nodded my head back.
I was too afraid to take my hand off the handlebars to wave back. I had no idea it would be that difficult to learn how to ride.
Purchasing the bike was the easy part. Learning to ride took time. That first month I rode over sand, dumped the bike, got up and rode again.
There have been a lot of miles and a few more accidents, but I am still here, riding.
Now if I just left that bike there in the driveway, would I be a biker? I owned a Harley, I bought t-shirts, I had a helmet in my living room. But to be a biker is to ride a motorcycle. And that takes time and commitment and accepted risk. It takes counting the cost, realizing that any ride could be our last.
Salvation is free. We accept the Lord's gift and we are saved.
But then it is time to live out our faith, it is time to go to work. Jesus said, "If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple. And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple." Luke 14:26-27 (NIV)
In Matthew 27:32 (NIV), at the time of Jesus' crucifixion we read, " As they were going out, they met a man from Cyrene, named Simon, and they forced him to carry the cross."
I believe this happened to illustrate (with a vivid picture) what it would be like to follow Christ. Jesus is going to his death, he is handling the salvation of our souls and restoring our relationship with the Father. And there is the disciple, following behind, carrying the cross.
To live out our faith is to love Jesus more than anything in our lives. To accept whatever he allows into our lives. To go wherever he tells us to go. There is no guarantee of an easy life, after accepting Christ, our lives are no longer our own.
If we don't live out our faith, we are simply posers. Jesus went on to say,
"Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Won't he first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? 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. " Luke 14:31-32 (NIV)
Read this next verse slowly...
"In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples." vv 33
Today we see many in the church who claim to be followers of Christ. But they are not the salt of the earth, they are not the light of the world. They wear the clothes, even speak the words. But like a poser whose bike sits in the garage as he makes excuse after excuse for leaving it there, they don't accept the danger, live with the risk and ride.
"Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; it is thrown out."
"Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear." vv34-36 (NIV)
What will it cost us to follow Christ?
Everything.
