Consider the Cost – Devotion for
For quite a while Jennifer had been telling me that she wanted us to get a cat. We had a cat when we first got married, and although I enjoyed having the cat, I got tired of all the hair that would eventually wind up all over everything. So for some time, I resisted Jennifer’s suggestions. However last year for Mother’s Day, she brought it up again, and the boys loved the idea, so we got to looking in the newspaper to see if anyone had any kittens to give away. We found several listings, made a few calls, and we finally settled on getting not one, but two kittens. These kittens came to us for the total cost of FREE! So, there I was thinking I made out like a bandit for Mother’s Day. And then we went to the vet. In hindsight, it would have been much cheaper for me to have given her some beautiful jewelry to wear, considering what we had to spend to have them spayed and neutered, get there shots, and receive wellness check-ups. Add in the food, the food and water dish, the litter box (that everyone in the family agreed to clean up . . . yeah, you can guess how that one turned out), the play toys, the kitty bed, and the kitty treats. If at that time we had considered the total cost of having those two cats, I’m not too sure that we would have gotten those “free” cats. But knowing what we now, and how much we love those cats, we’d probably pay twice that if we had to.
In Luke 14:25-35, Jesus is describing the cost of following him. According to that passage, to follow Jesus you have to be willing to hate your father, mother, wife, children, and even yourself. You have to be willing to carry your own cross, which was an expression the disciples knew, but not to the extent of what it would mean to them. You know, when I consider those costs, those are steep – but I think I understand them. There are times that if you are going to truly be a follower of Jesus that you are going to go against the will or wishes of your family, and there are going to be times that if you are faithful to Jesus, you will suffer as if you were carrying your own cross. But Jesus brings up one other cost that I am not sure that we are always willing to pay: “So then, none of you can be My disciple who does not give up all his own possessions” (Luke
This weekend I saw an example of how our possessions can hold us back. This past weekend my youngest son Aaron was the starting first baseman on his All Star team in a tournament. Friday night and Saturday we got to watch him and the rest of team play great, only to lose both games by the other team scoring in their final at bat. In the game Saturday morning, one of our players got up to bat, and he hit the ball hard to left field. As he was rounding his way past first on his way to an easy stand-up double, his helmet fell off. This young man panicked, not knowing what to do. He stopped running, came back for the helmet, and put it back on as he attempted to run to second. Before he got to second, the helmet started coming off again so he ran with his hands on his head, which slowed him down considerably. He was able to slide (which was impressive with both hands on his head!), and beat the tag as the other team had had time to get the ball in. Because he was so concerned about the thing, he almost missed the point of what he was doing. When we follow Christ, we cannot let our “things” get in the way of us fully committing to following Him. I think about all of our soldiers who leave behind all their things and families because they have been given orders to go serve overseas. I can’t imagine what it would be like if they showed up to board the plane with all their possessions, plus the kitchen sink. The same is true in following Christ – we must be a willing soldier if need be, willing to leave behind everything – father, mother, wife, children, brothers, sisters, possessions – for the sake of the call.
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