Day 3: Luke 14:29, 2 Corinthians 12:9

Pay the cost of discipleship!

While salvation is received through God's grace, as recipients of salvation, in order to live the life of a disciple, we must pay the cost.  However, many Christians are unwilling to pay the cost of discipleship.  As a result, they only build the foundation of faith and easily succumb to various temptations of the devil, living a life that transgresses against God, or becoming Christians who are ridiculed by worldly people (Lk. 14:29).

The reason why so many Christians inevitably become objects of ridicule and mockery by worldly people is because they have not paid the cost of discipleship.  Therefore, as disciples of Jesus, we must pay the cost of discipleship.  Each of us must take up our own cross and follow Jesus.  Without the cross of the heart or the cross of life, we cannot simply carry an ornamental cross and expect to pay the cost of discipleship while going back and forth in the church.  We must prostrate ourselves before Jesus, who makes us disciples, and listen to His voice.  And we must seek God's sufficient grace in order to pay the cost of discipleship.  In other words, we must seek the power of God that is made perfect in our weakness (2 Cor. 12:9).  We must be willing to sacrifice for the sake of the gospel, having a readiness to willingly give up everything for the hope of the gospel.