Luk 14:33 …any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.
Initially, in Luke 14:26, we saw Jesus put the family on the table in light of the cost of discipleship. But now it’s not our relationships but our money, our property, our stuff Jesus puts on the table. This cost is binding, unalterable, unchanging. Jesus is not letting up one iota on His costly demands of discipleship. In Mark 10:17-22, which was read, the rich young ruler came to Christ claiming he wanted everlasting life, but on his own terms. Jesus told him to keep the commandments, to which the young man asserted that he had kept them. “21 And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” 22 Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions“. He was the foolish builder. He walked away from Jesus, as he refused to part with his god of money, and his idolatry of wealth. Wealth is not wrong to have, its’ the love of money that is the root of all kinds of evil (1Tim 6:10).
Peter would go on to proclaim that he and the others were true disciples as they were willing to not only count the cost but pay the cost saying, “28 See, we have left everything and followed you.” 29 Jesus would reply by saying, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, 30 who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life“, (Mark 10:28-31). Since Christ first fired out these words, the price tag hasn’t reduced one cent! The demands remain the same, the cost is binding, Christ will not sugar coat the cost of discipleship.
Until the nets are filled: We must love Him more than anyone or anything in this world. If we are to be a true disciple of Christ, we treasure Him as having greater value than all our possessions. The Apostle Paul expressed his love for Christ as he wrote, “I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord“, (Phil 3:8). Does this describe you?