The Cost Seems Great Because We Are Blind

Today's Reading: Genesis 23-24, Luke 9

Luke 9:23-24
23 And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. 24 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.

Personalize it method (Rick Warren's 40 Days in the Word):

Reformation Study Bible Notes-

To take up the cross means to renounce selfish ambition; it is a death to a whole way of life.

Jamison, Brown, and Faust Commentary-

on the double sense attached to the word "life," a lower and a higher, the natural and the spiritual, temporal and eternal. An entire sacrifice of the lower, or a willingness to make it, is indispensable to the preservation of the higher life; and he who cannot bring himself to surrender the one for the sake of the other shall eventually lose both.

Jeff, I do not refer merely to your need to suffer for my sake here.  I do not merely ask that you daily acknowledge me.  I ask that you place your life on that cross and that it be killed.  You must choose each day to deny self or to deny me.  This choice is to turn your face away from what was once your life and look on me.

John 12:25-26
Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26 If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.

Jeff, you cannot stand where you are and simply read stories about the great mission of the gospel.  You must take action to be my follower.  See that I did not ask my disciples to stay but to follow.

Luke 5:11
And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him.

Read Luke's description of how My Son explained this cost of following...

Luke 9:57-62
57 As they were going along the road, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” 58 And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” 59 To another he said, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” 60 And Jesus said to him, “Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” 61 Yet another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” 62 Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”

From a sermon by John Piper on October 27, 2002

Now what was Jesus doing in responding the way he did to these three would-be followers? No place to lay your head. Let the dead bury their dead. Put your hand on the plow and don’t look back. What was he doing? He was teaching, and he was testing. He was teaching that the Calvary road through Jerusalem will be a very hard road, and will require sacrifices of home and family. And he was testing to see if he himself was the greatest treasure of their lives. They said, "I’ll follow YOU." And Jesus said, "Really? You love me, you treasure me that much? Here’s what it will cost." So he is testing how much they treasure the "you" in "I will follow you," by telling them what the "follow" will cost.

The point is that Jesus knows everyone’s idol. Jesus knows perfectly what is competing in your heart with affection for him. He looks everyone of us in the face this morning and sees right to our heart.

The point here is that Jesus Christ is absolute and all other allegiances are relative.

Jeff, each of these three men intended to add me to their life.  Each of these men intended to improve their life by following me.  Jeff, do you see that you cannot come to me for an improved life; rather, I ask you to end your life.  I ask you to die and live anew.  I do not require that you make me a part, but the whole.  Jeff, what would that look like?  Look now at yourself...

Galatians 2:20
20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Jeff, to the question of what is the cost to follow me I offer this.  What is the thing in life, the person in life, the joy in life, the experience in life that you value above all else?  That is the cost.  Do not come and ask how I might lift the thing you value yet higher!  Do you value comfort and security?  Do you value the love of family?  Do not come to me that I might exalt these all the more and give you increase...I tell you thesse things you must drop in the dirt where you stand if you will follow me.  Jeff, my gospel is no prosperity gospel.

Jeff, trust me when I tell you that you shall be blessed.  I will make you like My Son.  Trust me when I tell you that there is no pleasure, no security, no comfort, no joy, no peace, no love, no glory, no hope, no relationship...there is nothing comparbale in this world as to that which I provide from my abundance to him who denys himself for my sake.  These things are in spite of temporal circumstances, not in response to them.  It is easy to be happy in the midst of prosperity...that is not the happiness I offer Jeff.

Jeff, if this cost still seems high, if this cost is frightening, if this cost stalls you, if this cost of absolute surrender hinders you...then you do not see clearly the object.  If you seek me you will find me.  Fix your eyes on Me...not how I will do something about something already in your life...fix your eyes on Me and see that I alone am the prize.  Knowing Me, experiencing Me, seeing Me, adoring Me, singing before Me, thanking Me, prone before Me, filled to overflowing in Me, the mighty and glorious angels rejoicing for your reconciliation to Me, My Son pierced with His hands out to you.  Jeff, do not wait for heaven...there is work to do.  Look into my face and find this relationship now.  Should you worry of anything but abiding?  Should you take up any concern but that which I call you to?  Do you see Me Jeff?  Do you hear Me?  Realize now that my entire creation serves to give you perspective on my glory.  Know that the most glorious thing my creation offers is but for contrast to My glory.  Don't be embarrassed or surprised when you stand before me and know of what I speak.  Recognize now that you live in a mere shadow.  The flowers do not cry out the beauty of my glory in their own appearance...but in that they are repulsive by comparison, Jeff.  You will see...

Philippians 3:8
8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ

Application:
Today I am to count everything lost in favor of knowing You
Today I am to value You more than any aspect of my life
Today I am to think on how glorious You are
Today I am to praise You
Today I am to gladly pay the cost

Prayer:
Lord, thank you for providing your Word and for giving me your creation as a contrast to yourself.  Let me imagine Your beauty and what you have waiting for us.  Please help me to know You now and to experience fullness of life as a branch dependent on the vine.  Lord, let me grasp the surpassing value of knowing You more every day.  Lord let me everyday see you as the prize.  Please help me to teach this to my family and everyone who would hear.

In Jesus name I pray, amen.

Soli Deo Gloria!

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