Daily Scripture: Luke 14:31 “Or again, suppose one king is going out to wage war with another king. Doesn’t he first sit down and consider whether he, with his ten thousand troops, has enough strength to meet the other one, who is coming against him with twenty thousand? 32 If he hasn’t, then while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation to inquire about terms for peace.
33 “So every one of you who doesn’t renounce all that he has cannot be my talmid.
Reflection Questions:Jesus pointed out how foolish a king would be to rashly go to war without studying if he had what it would take to win. (In fact, history is full of wars in which both sides assumed they’d win an easy victory, but instead lost thousands and thousands of lives.) As with the stories we read yesterday of people who found a great treasure, Jesus' point was that you cannot half-heartedly commit to his kingdom. But his kingdom is worth the cost, worth committing your whole self and your whole life to.
- Jesus spoke these words on his way to Jerusalem and the cross (cf. Luke 9:51), but the crowds with him thought he was on his way to an empire. Scholar William Barclay wrote, “It is possible to be a follower of Jesus without being a disciple….It is one of the supreme handicaps of the church that in it there are so many distant followers of Jesus and so few real disciples.” What are some key times you recall that moved you from “distant follower” toward “real disciple”?
- Barclay went on to note that one traditional marriage ceremony began with these words: “Marriage is not to be entered upon lightly or unadvisedly, but thoughtfully, reverently, and in the fear of God.” Sometimes we see people shy away from marriage because they fear the “cost,” the commitment level, marriage would take. How can you seriously “count the cost” of following Christ without overlooking the rewards it brings?
Today’s Prayer:
Lord Jesus, thoughtfully, reverently, and in the fear of God, I want to follow you. Remind me that, though this choice can be costly, I never face the costs alone, but always in your company. Amen.Insights from Janelle Gregory
Lord Jesus, thoughtfully, reverently, and in the fear of God, I want to follow you. Remind me that, though this choice can be costly, I never face the costs alone, but always in your company. Amen.Insights from Janelle Gregory
Janelle Gregory serves on the Resurrection staff as a Human Resources Specialist.
I stood with my son (10 years-old at the time) in the middle of the Lego aisle in Target. He had just gotten his very first allowance and it was already burning a hole in his pocket. He looked over all of his options and ended up picking out the two that he wanted. The only problem is that he only had enough money for one (we’re cheap at the Gregory house). I explained that he had to pick one or the other, but he couldn’t afford both. It was a tough decision, but we finally made our way to the register with the selection in-hand.
As Christians, we often hear about the free gift of grace. We have been given salvation when we have done nothing to deserve it. There were no good acts on our part that paid for this. This gift freely given to us is core to what we believe.
And while salvation is absolutely free, there is a cost on our part to being a disciple of Christ. As we grow in our faith, we will pay by giving up our selfish desires, our pride, our time, our money, our gifts, and our talents. This is a normal part of following a selfless Savior.
But most of us are not terribly excited to dish out the payment. Like my son in the toy aisle, we not only want the free salvation, we want to be a disciple, and we want our old lives too. We assume that we can have it all.
But if we are putting in more effort to be like Jesus, we will find it counterproductive to live for ourselves (our default mode). If you think that you are growing in your faith, you should be able to look back and see what has cost you. Does your life look any different than it would had you never started following Christ or are you coasting along in default mode?
The good news about my son is that the joy he got from his Lego set far outweighed his regret for leaving the other one behind. I doubt he even remembers that other Lego set. But to this day, he still has his Legos that he bought with his own money. Similarly, I have no buyer’s regret about the life I’ve found in Christ. If you find yourself stuck in the middle of the aisle, wondering which you should buy, don’t focus on what you’re giving up–focus on the enjoyment and fulfillment you’ll get out of a life in Christ.
Download the GPS App
The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection
13720 Roe Avenue
I stood with my son (10 years-old at the time) in the middle of the Lego aisle in Target. He had just gotten his very first allowance and it was already burning a hole in his pocket. He looked over all of his options and ended up picking out the two that he wanted. The only problem is that he only had enough money for one (we’re cheap at the Gregory house). I explained that he had to pick one or the other, but he couldn’t afford both. It was a tough decision, but we finally made our way to the register with the selection in-hand.
As Christians, we often hear about the free gift of grace. We have been given salvation when we have done nothing to deserve it. There were no good acts on our part that paid for this. This gift freely given to us is core to what we believe.
And while salvation is absolutely free, there is a cost on our part to being a disciple of Christ. As we grow in our faith, we will pay by giving up our selfish desires, our pride, our time, our money, our gifts, and our talents. This is a normal part of following a selfless Savior.
But most of us are not terribly excited to dish out the payment. Like my son in the toy aisle, we not only want the free salvation, we want to be a disciple, and we want our old lives too. We assume that we can have it all.
But if we are putting in more effort to be like Jesus, we will find it counterproductive to live for ourselves (our default mode). If you think that you are growing in your faith, you should be able to look back and see what has cost you. Does your life look any different than it would had you never started following Christ or are you coasting along in default mode?
The good news about my son is that the joy he got from his Lego set far outweighed his regret for leaving the other one behind. I doubt he even remembers that other Lego set. But to this day, he still has his Legos that he bought with his own money. Similarly, I have no buyer’s regret about the life I’ve found in Christ. If you find yourself stuck in the middle of the aisle, wondering which you should buy, don’t focus on what you’re giving up–focus on the enjoyment and fulfillment you’ll get out of a life in Christ.
Download the GPS App
The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection
13720 Roe Avenue
Leawood, Kansas 66224 United States
913.897.0120
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