Dare to FollowMfano

When I was a student and moved away from home, I suddenly had to budget for my food and bills each week. I remember going to the grocery store to get some of the things my mum stocked our cupboards with back home. As the cashier scanned my items, I realized I didn’t have enough money for everything in my shopping cart. This embarrassing moment taught me that before I went to pay for the items, I needed to make sure I could afford them. I also learned that just because the items were in my mum’s cupboard, that didn’t mean I automatically got them in mine.

In a world where we can envy what others have, a realization of the cost they have paid to help us grow should give us a deeper appreciation and respect for one another. When I would return home on summer break from university, I would have a newfound gratitude for the things I had previously taken for granted. I would open the fridge and it would be full of my favorite food—but now I didn’t just see food. I saw someone’s hard work and commitment to provide.

Everything has a cost. The disciples, at the invitation to follow Jesus, immediately experienced this cost as they left their boats, left their businesses, left their communities and families. Before anything else happened, before any of the miracles or sermons, the disciples felt the cost of following. What they didn’t understand in that moment was how it paled in comparison to the cost Jesus would pay to follow His Father’s will to the cross.

Following Jesus will cost us in this life. But praise be to Jesus that He has paid the ultimate and complete price! You can count the cost gladly because it’s true that He satisfies every desire you could want to add to your life. Seeing Jesus increase in your life brings about a fullness of joy that is worth every change you could embrace. You can dare to count the cost of following the One who paid it all for you.

Have you ever experienced a cost to following Jesus? What was your response to this cost?