Week 1 | Day 2 | Cost of Non-Discipleship

Command:

Enter through the narrow gate. Matthew 7:13 (NIV)

Read:

Enter through the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the road is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who go through it. How narrow is the gate and the difficult road that leads to life, and few find it. Matthew 7:13-14 (HCSB)

Reflect:

As I reflect on these past few months journeying with the church through the Ways of Jesus, I am slightly taken aback by how straightforward Jesus’ instructions were to his disciples then and to us now. “Follow me.” “Repent.” “Forgive others.” There is no hint of ambiguity in these words. Yet how do we follow his commands? And what does it cost us if we obey or not? 

Truthfully, my willful self is not bent towards obedience so these words of Jesus are challenging. Even so. I know that God’s desire for me is that through my obedience, I may abide the love of Jesus, thereby drawing others to come know him. As I continue to cooperate with the work that God’s spirit is already doing in me, I begin to align my heart to his, conforming to his will and not my own.  

Following Jesus is still not a walk in the park most days. There is a high cost to being a life-long student and practitioner of the ways of Jesus. German pastor and twentieth century Christian martyr, Deitrich Bonhoeffer, famously wrote: “When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.” Yikes! What does that even mean? 

For me, following Jesus is a lifetime of faithful obedience in the same direction that ultimately bears much good fruit. If discipleship costs me my ego, my earthly significance, or my worldly possessions, the cost of non-discipleship is even greater. “Non-discipleship,” writes Dallas Willard “costs abiding peace, a life penetrated through by love, faith that sees everything in the light of God’s overriding governance for good, hopefulness that stands firm in the most discouraging of circumstances, power to do what is right and withstand the forces of evil. In short, it costs exactly that abundance of life Jesus said he came to bring.” 

Which would I rather choose? Choosing to die to my willful self with its fleeting material success and significance, and to live into the life of Christ that promises eternal peace and joy seems to be a no-brainer. 

React:

What would it cost you to follow or not follow Jesus? 

Pray:

Jesus, every day you give us a choice. May we always choose you.