The Cost of Discipleship

UV 3578/10000. The Cost of Discipleship Then Jesus said to His disciples, “ if anyone wishes to follow Me ( as my disciples), he must deny himself (set aside selfish interests), and take up his cross (expressing a willingness to endure whatever may come) and follow Me ( believing in Me, conforming to My example in living, and if need be, suffering or perhaps dying because of faith in Me). Matthew 16 v 24 Jesus in this uni-verse is describing the cost of discipleship or the cost of following Him. If we are to be His followers, we are to deny ourselves the option of disobeying or disbelieving God. Adam had the option of disobeying God. But, the second Adam, Jesus, the first born of a new creation, denied Himself the option of disbelieving and disobeying God. We are to deny ourselves the right of following our own wills, our own desires and subject ourselves willingly to the rule of God, the rule of the kingdom of God. We are, in other words, die to the world and its evil desires and live to satisfy the perfect will of God for our lives. The first step to be a disciple of Christ is a surrender of our wills. The second step is to conform to the image of Christ, to surrender our character to God. We should do everything we can to understand the word of Christ and obey it wholeheartedly. When we live by His word, His word lives in us. We surrender our work to the Lord. We no longer rely on our own efforts but we depend on the grace of Christ. We surrender our destiny to God. We become a living sacrifice unto Christ even as He became a sacrifice for us. The commitment of our lives to Christ is total. It is a commitment even unto death, that is, even if we have to pay with our lives for our faith in Him, we are prepared to do so. If our commitment is any less than that, we are unworthy to be His followers. We are to be totally surrendered, totally dedicated, totally devoted to Christ. As He told His disciples, we should be willing to drink the cup of suffering for His sake.