But first… | The Cost of Discipleship

But first…

Those were the words that jumped at me as I read from a Bible passage in Luke chapter 9.

It tells us the story of Jesus calling out to some men instructing them to “follow Him”.

Each one, when asked to follow Jesus, had a similar response.

“But first…”

They would follow Christ, but ONLY after they tended to whatever they deemed to be more important at the moment.

Check out this passage…

𝗔𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝗹𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗼𝗮𝗱, 𝗮 𝗺𝗮𝗻 𝘀𝗮𝗶𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝗶𝗺, “𝗜 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗳𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗴𝗼.”⁣

𝗝𝗲𝘀𝘂𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗱, “𝗙𝗼𝘅𝗲𝘀 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗯𝗶𝗿𝗱𝘀 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘁𝘀, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝗠𝗮𝗻 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝗻𝗼 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗹𝗮𝘆 𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗱.”⁣

𝗛𝗲 𝘀𝗮𝗶𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗺𝗮𝗻, “𝗙𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄 𝗺𝗲.”⁣

𝗕𝘂𝘁 𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗱, “𝗟𝗼𝗿𝗱, 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗹𝗲𝘁 𝗺𝗲 𝗴𝗼 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗯𝘂𝗿𝘆 𝗺𝘆 𝗳𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿.”⁣

𝗝𝗲𝘀𝘂𝘀 𝘀𝗮𝗶𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝗶𝗺, “𝗟𝗲𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗯𝘂𝗿𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝗱𝗲𝗮𝗱, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗴𝗼 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗰𝗹𝗮𝗶𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗱𝗼𝗺 𝗼𝗳 𝗚𝗼𝗱.”⁣

𝗦𝘁𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗮𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝗮𝗶𝗱, “𝗜 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗳𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄 𝘆𝗼𝘂, 𝗟𝗼𝗿𝗱; 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗹𝗲𝘁 𝗺𝗲 𝗴𝗼 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝗮𝘆 𝗴𝗼𝗼𝗱𝗯𝘆𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗺𝘆 𝗳𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗹𝘆.”⁣

𝗝𝗲𝘀𝘂𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗱, “𝗡𝗼 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗽𝘂𝘁𝘀 𝗮 𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗹𝗼𝘄 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸𝘀 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗶𝘀 𝗳𝗶𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗱𝗼𝗺 𝗼𝗳 𝗚𝗼𝗱.”⁣

(𝗟𝘂𝗸𝗲‬ ‭𝟵:𝟱𝟳-𝟲𝟮‬ ‭𝗡𝗜𝗩‬)

God desires our total dedication. He wants every piece of our hearts, not just the leftover fragments we choose to give Him.

3 Key Takeaways:

1. Following Jesus comes with a cost. Are you ready and willing to pay it? While the cost of following Christ is high, the cost of not following Him is even greater.

2. There will come a time when God calls you to do something. Will your response be a “but first” excuse or will you drop everything to serve Jesus in the way he has asked of you?

3. Are you willing to abandon everything for the sake of following Jesus? If anything gets in the way of us serving Jesus, or has become more important to us than our Savior, then that has become an idol and it must be removed.

Got questions?
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