Cost to Follow Jesus

Complimentary Story

   Hey Jesus, I want to follow you but first I need to do some things for my own self before letting you have control of me because Jesus, you may ask me to do some things that I really do not want to do or actually marry a person that I am not really attracted to.  You may even ask me to give up my career and be a pastor or youth leader.  I love You and You saved me but I still need control of my life because you know, you only live once.  
   That is a pretty shallow prayer and one none of us would ever admit that we have or do pray.  Yet, think about it, does it cost anything to follow Jesus in your life?   Some people came to Jesus and said they would follow Him but first they had to do several things (Luke 9:57-62).  
   Becoming a Christian is not a half commitment.  Either you place your trust in Him for the forgiveness of your sins or you do not.  When you seek Him to forgive you of your sins, you are giving Him control of your life because that is the only way you will overcome sinning.  
   By giving Him control, you are letting Him guide you into doing the right things.  Granted, it will take time for most of us to get to the point where whatever we do, we are having Jesus (and the Holy Spirit) gain complete control of our lives.  Our tendencies are to say yes to Jesus having control but then pulling back when the trade-off costs more than what we are willing to hand over.  
   As you grow spiritually, becoming obedient develops.  Earlier in Luke 9, Jesus told the apostles that they, “must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow Him” (vs 23).  
   Whatever Jesus puts in your life, He prays we obediently follow Him.  That means we have to lay aside our own desires and be willing to follow Him no matter the cost.  As a person develops in obeying Jesus, those desires of yours will become more naturally His desires.  More and more you honestly thirst to do whatever Jesus lays out for you.  Your wants, desires, dreams and goals become His wants, desires, dreams and goals.  Trusting Him to place His dreams and desires in you are steps of faith but He created you and wants the best for you.  
   With the fact that He created you and knows how you live, He knows what is best for you.  You have certain abilities and gifts in you.  By learning and discovering those areas of your life, you gravitate toward natural applications of the abilities and giftings.  Now He can change them in you.  If Jesus wants to do something unique using you, He will supply what is needed for you to get involved in that area.  Trust Him on that.
   In fact, develop characteristics of Jesus in your life like integrity, compassion, mercy, gentleness, a deeper love for the Word and development of the relationship between God and you, and obedience.  As you develop in those areas and others, observe what happens to you.  The more you spiritually grow, the cost to follow Jesus decreases significantly.  It is pretty great how God works in our lives.  

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