Go into any store and you’ll find that everything has a price on it. Well,
any more these days, there’s a bar-code, but the point is the same. If you
want it, you have to pay the price. Jesus tells His disciples, and us
today, effectively “if you want to be my disciple, you have to pay the
price!” But why is there a cost? Doesn’t God offer grace for free?
Certainly! Salvation is a free gift from God that none of us could pay for
… but discipleship is a lifestyle that comes at a cost. For you and I to
follow Jesus in a world that is hostile to Him and His followers, there is
a price to pay – a “cross” to bear: We can be assured that we will
encounter persecution and resistance; and to live our lives longing for a
world that is yet to come, we must forsake (“renounce” in Luke 14:33) the
things of this world. There is a significant cost to being a disciple of
Jesus.