Counting the Cost: Committing to Follow Jesus

Devotional

Day 1: Understanding the Depth of Commitment

Understanding the commitments we make is crucial, especially when it comes to following Jesus. Just as one might learn from a seemingly simple decision like signing up for a CD club, the decision to follow Jesus requires a deep understanding of what it entails. This commitment is not only about the promise of eternal life but also about living a life that aligns with God's design, which often runs counter to the values of the world. This alignment can lead to being misunderstood or even disliked by others, but it is a path that transforms our earthly lives in profound ways. [13:54]

"For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it?" (Luke 14:28, ESV)

Reflection: What is one commitment in your life that you need to reevaluate to ensure it aligns with your faith in Jesus?

Day 2: Prioritizing Love for Jesus

Jesus calls us to love Him so deeply that our love for others seems lesser in comparison. This doesn't mean neglecting our relationships but rather ensuring that our devotion to Him is paramount. This profound love for Jesus should influence all other aspects of our lives, guiding our decisions and actions. It is a call to prioritize our relationship with Him above all else, allowing His love to shape our interactions with others and our approach to life's challenges. [27:08]

"Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me." (Matthew 10:37, ESV)

Reflection: How can you demonstrate your love for Jesus in a way that influences your relationships with others today?

Day 3: Counting the Cost of Discipleship

Following Jesus is a significant decision that requires careful consideration, much like planning a major life event. It impacts every area of our lives, from our relationships to our finances, and demands that we be prepared for the challenges and sacrifices it entails. Jesus wants us to be fully aware of the commitment we are making, as it is a call to be all in, all the time, without looking back. This decision should not be made hastily but with a clear understanding of the cost and the transformative journey it initiates. [29:38]

"Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it?" (Luke 14:28, ESV)

Reflection: What is one area of your life where you need to count the cost of following Jesus more carefully?

Day 4: Taking Up Your Cross

Jesus challenges us to take up our cross, symbolizing a willingness to endure hardship and even humiliation for His sake. This call to discipleship is about being fully committed, embracing the challenges and sacrifices that come with following Him. It is a journey that requires us to be all in, without looking back, and to trust in His guidance and strength as we navigate the difficulties we may face. The rewards of this commitment are eternal and transformative, shaping us into the people God designed us to be. [32:01]

"And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me." (Matthew 10:38, ESV)

Reflection: What is one specific hardship you are willing to endure for the sake of following Jesus, and how can you begin to embrace it today?

Day 5: Letting Go of Hindrances

Reflect on what you might be holding onto that prevents you from fully committing to Jesus. Whether it's relationships, career ambitions, or personal comforts, we must be willing to let go of anything that hinders our walk with Him. The journey of discipleship is challenging, but the rewards are eternal and transformative. By letting go of these hindrances, we open ourselves to the fullness of life that Jesus offers, allowing His love and purpose to guide us in every aspect of our lives. [35:49]

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us." (Hebrews 12:1, ESV)

Reflection: Identify one thing you are holding onto that hinders your walk with Jesus. What steps can you take today to begin letting it go?

Sermon Summary

In today's message, I shared a personal story from my teenage years about signing up for a Columbia House CD deal, which taught me the importance of understanding the commitments we make. This story serves as a metaphor for the commitment required in following Jesus. Just as I learned to know what I was signing up for with the CD club, it's crucial for us to understand the cost and commitment of following Jesus. It's the greatest decision one can make, not only because it promises eternal life but also because it transforms our earthly lives to align with God's design. However, aligning with God's priorities often means running counter to the world's values, which can lead to being misunderstood or even hated.

Jesus calls us to count the cost of discipleship, emphasizing that following Him is a significant decision that requires us to love Him above all else. This love should be so profound that our love for others seems lesser in comparison. Jesus uses hyperbole to illustrate this point, urging us to prioritize our relationship with Him above all other relationships and commitments. He also challenges us to take up our cross, symbolizing a willingness to endure hardship and even humiliation for His sake.

The decision to follow Jesus is not one to be made hastily. It requires careful consideration, much like planning a significant life event such as marriage. Jesus wants us to be fully aware of the commitment we are making, as following Him will impact every aspect of our lives, from our relationships to our finances. It's a call to be all in, all the time, without looking back.

As we reflect on this, I encourage you to consider what you might be holding onto that prevents you from fully committing to Jesus. Whether it's relationships, career ambitions, or personal comforts, we must be willing to let go of anything that hinders our walk with Him. The journey of discipleship is challenging, but the rewards are eternal and transformative.

Key Takeaways

1. Understanding Commitment: Just as I learned from the Columbia House experience, it's vital to know what you're signing up for when deciding to follow Jesus. This commitment is not just about eternal life but also about living a life aligned with God's design, which often runs counter to worldly values. [13:54]
2. Prioritizing Love for Jesus: Jesus calls us to love Him so deeply that our love for others seems lesser in comparison. This doesn't mean we neglect our relationships but that our devotion to Him should be paramount, influencing all other aspects of our lives. [27:08]
3. Counting the Cost: Following Jesus is a significant decision that requires careful consideration. Like planning a marriage, it impacts every area of our lives, and we must be prepared for the challenges and sacrifices it entails. [29:38]
4. Taking Up Your Cross: Jesus challenges us to take up our cross, symbolizing a willingness to endure hardship and even humiliation for His sake. This call to discipleship is about being all in, all the time, without looking back. [32:01]
5. Letting Go of Hindrances: Reflect on what you might be holding onto that prevents you from fully committing to Jesus. Whether it's relationships, career ambitions, or personal comforts, we must be willing to let go of anything that hinders our walk with Him. [35:49]
** [35:49]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[00:30] - Columbia House Story
[03:45] - The Cost of Commitment
[06:20] - Aligning with God's Priorities
[09:10] - Counting the Cost
[12:00] - Love for Jesus Above All
[15:30] - Taking Up Your Cross
[18:45] - Discipleship in the West
[22:00] - Rufus' Story of Sacrifice
[25:15] - The Fountainbleau Example
[28:30] - What Are You Not Willing to Give Up?
[31:00] - The Teenage Girl's Sacrifice
[33:00] - Invitation to Follow Jesus
[35:00] - Prayer and Response
[37:00] - Closing and Worship

Sermon Clips

"you align your agenda with the things of god it will put you running counter culture to the priorities and the agenda of the world and jesus says when that happens at some point the world's going to turn on you at some point you're going to be hated because you value things different than the world values and you need to understand that before you sign up to follow jesus or if you are a believer already you're a follower of jesus a reminder of what the cost is it's a big decision the greatest decision you'll make what i know is this the quicker we make a decision if we rush into a decision we're more likely to make a poor decision that's not always the case but if you get rushed for a decision the chances that it's the wrong one that they just they grow like god bless my wife i i know she hates taking me closing shopping like we don't do it that often like i just buy either most of my clothes on amazon or she picks them out for me and just brings them home but if we go shopping we've done that a couple times we're looking and she's like here's a shirt and what i do is this i i hold it up to myself and i go yep it'll work and she goes go into the dressing room and try it on like i don't want to do that like it just takes too much time like i got to go like take clothes off put clothes on come out look in the mirror she gives the thumbs up the thumbs down go in try something else on take off boots put on like i'm like nah it's an extra large it'll be it's fine and then she's like well you're an extra large too like maybe maybe it won't be like you gotta go try it on hate doing it but here's here's what she knows if i just pick it out it's gonna work i take it home and it doesn't either she's taking it back or it's sitting in our bedroom for six to seven weeks until i take it back right so she's like don't don't just go yep it fits let's go" [00:03:47] (116 seconds)

"take the time make the decision don't rush it quicker we make decisions more likely make a poor one at the same thing the bigger the decision the more time we need to take right so I'll give you an example y 'all like Buc -ee's yeah yeah so you go to Buc -ee's you're on your road trip and you stop and you're gonna get snacks you walk in you make a decision I'm gonna get beaver nuggets y 'all had the bohemian garlic beef jerky man Buc -ee's I'd be paying me for this right here it's this good beef jerky right so if I'm making that decision that is not a big decision right there's what am I what am I considering I'm considering cost you know I don't know much beaver nuggets cost I know this is like forty three dollars you know like a beef jerky so I'm considering the cost I'm gonna consider the calories even though they make it in such a way that you have to have a master's degree in math to understand the calories because I look at I go at sixty but there's four servings and this one has a hundred and forty calories but a serving size is two thirds of a cup and I didn't bring my measuring cup with me to Buc -ee's to figure out the camera cost calories I might consider who I'm with right like am I to make the car smell like garlic or am I gonna crunch it you know I'm gonna make those decisions if this decision takes me more than 60 seconds I'm probably doing something wrong right who likes a beaver nuggets whoa hey look alive I'm who likes garlic beef there it's coming listen one of our values is embracing change doing things differently we are the only church in all of America maybe the world today that passed out free Buc -ee's in the middle of the sermon so we just do things different right so yeah it's a Buc -ee's church if I'm making that decision 60 seconds if I'm getting married" [00:07:37] (115 seconds)

"That's more than a 60 -second decision. I mean, 14 -year -old Brett and Kelly Kapowski from Saved by the Bell, that would have been a 60 -second decision at 14. But if you're like in the real world, right, you're making a decision of who you're going to spend the rest of your life with. You're making a decision of who you're going to possibly raise kids with. You're going to make a decision of whose family you're spending holidays with. Who are you doing your finances with, right? Those are big decisions. Those don't get rushed decisions. In fact, in the state of Texas, if you try to go get married today and you get your marriage license, the state of Texas goes, you've got to wait at least three days before we make this legal because you need to make sure this is serious, right? Like marriage is a big decision. We don't rush it. We take some time. Well, I want to suggest to you that following Jesus is an even bigger decision than marriage because following Jesus affects your marriage. Following Jesus changes the way you parent. Following Jesus, it defines how you spend your money and what you do with your finances. Following Jesus changes everything. And what you're going to see today as we look at a passage out of Luke is that Jesus actually encourages us to count the cost before we claim Jesus." [00:07:38] (83 seconds)

"you must hate everyone else by comparison your father and mother wife and children brothers and sisters yes even your own life otherwise you can't be my disciple now isn't that about the most un -jesus sounding like thing you've ever heard right like that that doesn't sound like Jesus like hey you got to hate your parents you got to hate your brother and sister you got to hate your your spouse and your kids you know what you got to hate yourself you're gonna come follow me and if you're like most people you go well wait a second I thought I thought Jesus was love people right that the religious leaders they were called Pharisees they came to Jesus trying to trap him they say we got 600 plus laws that we follow which one's the most important of all the 600 plus tell us what's the most important Jesus response was love the Lord your God with all your heart soul and mind and then he gives them one B he goes the seconds like it you didn't ask but let me just tell you because they're right there together , love your neighbor as yourself so love God love people that that's what Jesus said it was the most important and then yet we hear Jesus say hey if you're gonna follow me you got to hate everybody that's important to you right what do we do with that well anytime we're reading the Bible and we find something that doesn't seem like it's in in the right place it's really important to interpret that in light of the entire Bible because the entire Bible is one Word of God to us when we really start to study this and again the verses on the screen look a little bit different the New Living Translation actually gives us some help because it says if you want to be my disciple you must hate everyone else by comparison that's not actually there but the idea is so Jesus is speaking in Aramaic it's being translated when it's written down it's written into Greek and then we get an English translation so there's a lot in between the Aramaic and even" [00:11:28] (114 seconds)

"Hebrew understanding of a word like hate, if we translated it directly to English, we might have said something like this. You have to not hate, but you have to love significantly less. So New Living Translation helps us because it's by comparison. In Aramaic, when Jesus said you've got to hate your parents and hate your mother, your brothers and sisters, and hate your spouse, what he's saying is when you love me, your love for them looks significantly exponentially less. It's not a hate like, now I'm leaving my parents. I hate them. I hope they die. That's not the idea here. It's you love me so much that everything else pales in comparison. Like when people look at how much you love Jesus and they look at how much you love your kids, even though you love your kids, they go, man, he loves his kids. But compared to the way that he loves Jesus, man, pretty much hates his kids. Compared to that, that's what Jesus is saying. Jesus often uses hyperbole when he teaches." [00:13:22] (60 seconds)

"Great exaggeration to drive from a point. With our teenagers on Wednesday of this week, we were talking about lust versus love. And one of the things we looked at in Matthew 5, where Jesus is talking about lust and he uses hyperbole. He says, it would be better for you to gouge your eye out than to lust. Now, here's what we know. All of Jesus' disciples, the 12 are all 12 guys, and none of them were wise. They were all wise. They were all wise. They were all wise. They were all wise. Jesus wasn't going, come over here. We're getting rid of that eye. And if you mess up again, I'm taking the other eye. It was hyperbole. It was an exaggeration to say, hey, it would be better for you. Like lust is so powerful. Lust is so damaging. You would actually rather lose your eye than fall into its schemes. You'd rather be blind than to get all the problems that lust unchecked gives in your life. It was a hyperbole to understand how important it was. Jesus saying, hey, you're going to get rid of all the problems that lust unchecked gives in your life. So he said, hey, you're" [00:14:22] (54 seconds)

"all of the most important relationships you have less than you love me significantly less if you want to follow me that's still a high bar right like it's softened a little bit when we understand it but it's an extremely high bar difficult to attain because there will come a time in your life where to follow jesus is going to cost you something it might be that the world hates you but it's going to cost you something and jesus wants you to know ahead of time if you're following me you've got to be ready to pay that cost you got to pay the price it's not going to be easy there's a story of a guy named rufus kid it's part -time dock worker for a trucking company and so he was part -time working in the docks part -time going to school and working on the docks was a hard job all the guys it's paying pretty well but they wanted better and the company that they worked for was hiring well rufus had just finished his associate's degree it's kind of time to transition in life he's not in school anymore you've got to be ready to pay that cost you've got to pay the price it's not going to be easy once they use this degree goes in interviews for a job with a trucking company finishes the interviews come out sitting around lunch with the other guys that are on the dock and they're asking how it went how'd your interview go he was it was it was fantastic it was excellent he said they actually offered me a job in sales and the pay is crazy i wouldn't even i wouldn't even guess the pay and i mean it really has unlimited opportunities it's a fantastic job and so they looked down they said okay like when you when you're out when you're leaving us like you know is this our last chance to get a job or is this our last chance to get a job or is this our last lunch together and he said well i turned the job down and they're looking i'm like what crazy and this is what he told him he said it was a great job everything i would i think i dream for he said but i teach a single sunday school class at my church god's called me to those people and i love those people and i'm teaching the class and they're kind of my people and if i took this job the requirements" [00:15:04] (113 seconds)

"the job with travel and some things like that i would have to quit teaching that class and i'm just trusting god to provide for me a job that pays the bills that i love that also allows me to do the ministry that he's called me to now listen nobody sitting around that that lunch table hated him nobody went like you are you're an awful person in fact someone probably went i'm gonna apply for that job right but they didn't understand it that doesn't make any sense why in the world would you choose a sunday school class you teach over a job you've dreamed of well for rufus the answer was god has called me to something and my love for jesus has translated into love for this class and these singles i'm doing ministry with and i'll find a job but i may not find the calling that god's called me to in another place that doesn't make sense to the world you're going to have moments where you make choices of loving jesus and following jesus to where he calls you that the world looks at and goes that doesn't make any sense that's that's done maybe even hate you for it but jesus says you're going to follow me your love for me makes everything else pale in comparison and then as difficult as that sounds he's going to raise the bar he says next and if you do not carry your own cross and follow me you can't be my disciple if you don't hate if you don't love me in such a way that it looks like you hate everybody else you're not following me and let me just raise the bar pick up your cross and come follow me now we read that in 2025 in a in a bible belt texas we understand the cross different like we walk into hobby lobby and can buy some some nice scripted framed things with crosses on them" [00:17:09] (113 seconds)

"we can put up in our house we can put some metal crosses on our walls we might have some jewelry that has a cross because we understand the cross in the light of jesus and the cross right even somebody that's not a believer they they tie the cross to christianity and they see it as a good thing when jesus is having this conversation to the crowd they their understanding of the cross is a terrible thing a cross is where criminals go to die when you get in trouble with the roman government they come and take you and they nail you to a cross and you hang there in front of your friends and family until you suffocate to death and then they take you down and you're you're considered the the worst of the worst they've watched people literally pick up one of the beams of their cross just like jesus will later and carry it to their place of crucifixion where everybody's looking going oh that's awful that's humiliating i'd hate to be their family so when jesus says you've got to love me in such a way that it looks like you hate every other relationship that's important to you let me raise the bar and say you've also got to be willing to pick up your cross and be humiliated and die if you're going to follow me jesus is saying you've got to be all in all the time that's what it means to follow jesus" [00:19:02] (84 seconds)

"christianity in the west discipleship in america looks a little more like this quote somebody said this discipleship is not periodic volunteer work at one's own terms and at one's convenience it's not but that right there defines what the church in america has become when it talks about discipleship i'll serve i'm not gonna serve every week though because we travel a lot i'll be able to serve like once a month maybe um and what happens if i got to call in sick that hey i'll serve but uh not not if it costs me anything like hey i'll be a part of the family of god but i don't want to be inconveniencing me hey jesus i'll go where you go as long as where you're going is where i actually wanted to go in the first place that's discipleship in the west and jesus what we read here is the exact antithesis of that it's not periodic serving it's not at my convenience in my own timeline jesus says if you're going to follow me pick up your cross and let's go hey you're going to love me in such a way that i am number one and everything else in your life that's number two there's a big gap between one and two so pick up your cross and let's go and he's telling the crowd why because he doesn't want them to have any disillusion about what it means and he tells them this in verse 28." [00:20:56] (87 seconds)

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