Following Jesus

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‘Salvation costs you nothing but discipleship will cost you everything.’ -Mark Driscoll

The tough part about this quote is that this "everything" is optional. A lot adds up when we evaluate whether or not we're really following Christ, whether we're really on track to getting a "good and faithful servant" from God at the end. Little things..like deciding whether to talk to our friends at a church event, or to the girl in the back who's looking kind of lonely. Or listening to Christian music in the car instead of your favorite genre, filled with dirty lyrics. Or deciding whether to be there for a friend, or to just go to sleep. Big things too..like sticking it out for that one guy who's willing to go on long-term missions, instead of compromising to be with someone I love, but who doesn't love Jesus enough to leave his job or the comfort of America. Whatever big or little things are "costs" to you in following Jesus, all these things add up to this "everything" by which we can call ourselves Christians in the truest sense, followers of Jesus. Following is an active term, it's leaving behind and forsaking what we want, for what we know is true and real. Before I wrote this entry, I wondered if Jesus would get offended if I started listing out all that we're called to sacrifice for Him..because when it comes down to it, He's worth anything and everything. But God knows our humanity gets in the way of a lot of things, and He knows it's hard for us to change. The Christian struggle is real, yet non-Christians, believe it or not, are attracted to our realness. They don't like seeing perfect people..they like seeing people who are real but who fight to be different or live differently for some worthy Cause. And the worship we make with our lives makes them look at what we're worshipping. Anyway, I think whenever the temptation is to ignore that big or little something we're called to sacrifice and instead gratify our own desires, we have to ask ourselves, why should I choose to sacrifice? It's not just our conscience, or something we're "supposed" to do..but it's a part of following Jesus, and He's always worth the cost. Sacrificing is loving Him back in the same way He loved us, and that's the most powerful, truest form of love. Following Jesus, truly loving Him, will cost us everything our flesh wants, it's no lie. But He's always worth it. Fixing our eyes on Him makes all the cost go away.

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