Thoughts from daily Bible reading for today – July 14, 2016
As they were walking along the road, a man said to Jesus, “I will follow you wherever you go.” Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.” Luke 9:57-58
As Christians, we often talk about “following Jesus,” and for good reason! This is one of the most basic and central aspects of the Christian journey, and it is impossible to be a Christian without following Christ. That said, we must constantly be reassessing our lives and asking ourselves the hard question: are we following Jesus as he has revealed himself in the Scriptures, or are we following a version of Jesus in which we remake him in our own image?
If we aren’t careful, discipleship can become something that we define, that we fit into our lives in the way we want it to fit (or not fit!), and we ultimately define what it is and what it isn’t. In short, instead of following Jesus wherever he may lead, we find ourselves asking him to tag along on our journey!
Genuine followers of Jesus must always consider the cost of true discipleship. We must be willing to have our own views of discipleship reframed in light of the life and witness of Jesus. We learn how to follow Jesus when we set our eyes fully on him and let our lives be drawn to him and reordered around his life.
If we don’t learn who Jesus truly is and what he wants from us as his children, we will rush to say “I will follow you wherever you go!” without first considering how costly this allegiance and loyalty may be. Yes, Jesus certainty wants wholehearted devotion, but he wants us to know what wholehearted devotion truly looks like. As his disciples, in this life there is no guarantee of financial gain or cultural significance – none! In fact, as Luke 9 reminds us, foxes and birds have a greater guarantee of comfort and security.
Jesus cautions us against making a hasty claim of loyalty. Do not quickly rush to commit yourself to Christ if you haven’t first counted the cost. However, when you do see the beauty, love, and goodness of God shown in Jesus, rush to give your all to him, and in so doing find the only source of meaning, hope, and peace.
Prayer
Father, fill us with your Spirit and give us the courage we need to be genuine, wholehearted disciples of Jesus.Application
Are there ways that you’ve watered down the life of discipleship and not considered the cost of following Jesus wherever he may lead?Related Reading
1 Kings 19:20-21; Luke 18:22; John 8:12; 1 Peter 2:21Post/Tweet today
Do not quickly rush to commit yourself to Christ if you haven’t first counted the cost. #WisdomHunters #considerthecostWorship Resource
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“If we don’t learn who Jesus truly is and what he wants from us as his children, …”
This is an error! We are not Jesus’ “children”, and I do believe that “he” should be capitalized
Dear Daniel,
Thank you for taking the time to reach out to us after reading “Consider the Cost”. We always appreciate hearing from our Wisdom Hunter’s family members, especially when they may have some concerns and suggestions in regards to the devotional.
If I may, I respectfully disagree with your comment “We are not Jesus’ children”.
Galatians 3:26 tells us “You all are sons of God, through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.” And as believers, we claim Christ is the Son of God, the Messiah, so as children of God, we are indeed, children of Jesus, as well.
We are reminded of our “birthright” in John 1:12-13, “Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God- children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.”
If you would like to continue this conversation, you can email me gwynne@wisdomhunters.com.
I do agree with you about capitalizing “he” and “him”, but I think that is more of a personal preference and up to the author. In the NIV version of the Bible, “he” and “him” is not capitalized. Thank you for your suggestion and I will pass it along.
We are grateful for you, Daniel, and look forward to hearing from you again sometime.
Blessings to you and yours,
Gwynne
“How precious are your thoughts to me, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
If I should count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand.
When I awake, I am still with You.”
Psalm 139:17-18