At the supermarket checkout counter, a lady had in one hand, her wallet, a P50 bill and a gift cert, in the other hand, two chocolate bars. After the cashier scanned all her goods, she had to take out more money from her wallet because she underestimated the cost of the chocolates. At the gift shop of the Great Hall of Harry Potter, a boy perhaps about 7-8 years old, put his stuffs and a bunch of bills at the checkout counter. The lady cashier took one item and said “This is 60 pounds. The teacher should be with him.” His bill 94 GBP! For me it’s Php6000! My kid, who is twice his age, hesitated to buy 12Gbp item because it would cost her P750. (this was pre-covid rate… in 2019). Did the boy even look at the price tags of his stuffs? Did he know if he had enough money to buy what he wanted? Perhaps, he thought he could always ask for more? Maybe, for him, it’s easy come, easy go?
Jesus taught his disciples two parables on counting the cost in Luke 14:
28 For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it? 29 Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who observe it begin to ridicule him, 30 saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ 31 Or what king, when he sets out to meet another king in battle, will not first sit down and consider whether he is strong enough with ten thousand men to encounter the one coming against him with twenty thousand?
What cost is Jesus talking about? The cost to be His disciples…
26 “If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple. 27 Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple…
33 So then, none of you can be My disciple who does not give up all his own possessions.
The cost to be a follower of Jesus is to put following Jesus above everything that he considers valuable or important. It does not mean that I am to hate my family, it means that I am to love God above my family, all that I have even my own life. To carry my own cross is to be like Jesus who was obedient to God, the Father even unto death… to give up my own desires, wants and my needs so I can follow Jesus more closely.
I have heard stories of Christians who were persecuted for their faith – imprisoned, killed, made to choose between denying their faith and saving their family… what a hard choice and a costly one indeed! What about you, what about me? Honestly, I do not know how I would respond in such a situation. I can only pray that God grant me the courage to be his faithful witness till the end. We may not be put in such a difficult situation of choosing life and death over our faith. Yet every day, we need to evaluate our choices: whether we are good mirrors as a disciple of Jesus. Are we like the lady who underestimated the cost of her purchase – thinking we have what it takes to follow Jesus only to fall short? Or are we like the boy – are we even aware of the cost of the cross that we claim we want to carry?
Ponder: What in my life do I need to give up to follow Jesus? Who or what is keeping me from loving God with all my heart, strength and soul? What do I have to do to put away the idols in my life? What things am I striving for? Success? Popularity? Approval of others? Even my ministries.. are they my bible studies, my choir practice, my tasks and responsibilities… my busyness and productiveness in my workplace, in church, in my home?
Are these ‘good’ things taking me away from lingering in the Lord’s presence? Are these good things becoming more important than spending time alone with God, reading His word and talking with Him, listening to him? Are they drowning out the voice of the Holy Spirit speaking to me – Come to me you who are heavy laden, I will give you rest. Is my yoke easy and my burden light? How can I can carry my cross? What is my cross?
Dear Jesus, you have shown me the way of the cross. Help me to follow you closely no matter the cost. Amen.
