Read Luke 14:25-35

“For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it” — Luke 14:28

Jesus always had much to say about discipleship. The stories He portrayed and the principles He used were radical, revolutionary and thought-provoking. They still are today. Christ boldly spoke about the cost of discipleship and what it would take for someone to come under His teachings.

In that day and age, there were many Rabbis who had students. The most popular Rabbis only took a handful of students under their wing, and even then, the students were only challenged intellectually. But Christ opened wide the doors of the Kingdom to all. There was no application process. You didn’t have to work your way up a ladder. You just had to be willing. Anyone could become a disciple of Christ. But it would require you to first count the cost. Unlike the Rabbis, you would not be challenged intellectually, but spiritually.

Salvation comes by faith alone, but discipleship comes by surrender. To receive everlasting life is free by grace, but to become a disciple comes at a cost.

“And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.” (Luke 14:27)

Christ wants soldiers committed to the course, not haphazards who entangle themselves in worldliness and fail to finish what they started. A disciple is called to be strong and of good courage in the Lord (see Joshua 10:25); to fight the good fight of faith (see 1 Timothy 6:12); to finish the race of faith with joy (1 Corinthians 9:24, Hebrews 12:1); to wage the warfare by putting on the whole armor of God (see 1 Timothy 1:18, Ephesians 6:11); and to persevere to the end (see Hebrews 6:11).

“You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier.” (2 Timothy 2:3–4)

But dare not anyone start the course without first counting the cost, lest they become the man whom Jesus describes as the one: “who began to build, but was not able to finish.”

Only if Judas would have counted the cost, perhaps he would not have become the Son of Perdition. Only if Hymenaeus and Alexander would have counted the cost, they may not have shipwrecked their faith and the faith of others (see 1 Timothy 1:19-20). Only if Demas would have counted the cost, he may not have forsaken Christ for the love of the world (see 2 Timothy 4:10). It would have been better that these men never enlisted in the first place.

To become a disciple of Christ is a high calling, no doubt. You may be wondering then, “Who is worthy and strong enough to become a disciple of Christ? Who does not shrink in fear of failure at the cost?”

But that is the beauty of it all. To be a disciple of Christ does not require your own strength, but rather submission to the strength of God! It’s not the might of your own power, but yielding to the mighty power of the Holy Spirit who works in you. The battle is not yours — the battle is the Lord’s!

“...Thus says the Lord to you: ‘Do not be afraid nor dismayed… for the battle is not yours, but God’s.’” (2 Chronicles 20:15)

To become a disciple, then, is not burdensome, but liberating. You trade self-desire for Christ’s mission; temporary gratification for eternal reward; man’s power for God’s power; physical strife for divine strength; human wisdom for God’s wisdom; natural outcomes for supernatural results; earthly talents for spiritual gifts; worldliness for godliness; fear of men for the boldness of a lion; and self-glory for God’s glory!

Oh, that all who have put their faith in Christ would choose discipleship! For to be a disciple of Christ comes with the greatest blessing and the most satisfying reward, both here and in the future Kingdom of Heaven! That we would make discipleship as personal and intimate like Paul the Apostle did, who said:

“I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20)

That’s the true cost of discipleship: a cost that anyone who has counted it knows it’s not a cost at all — but a reward!

“Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. (Hebrews 13:20–21)