What does it mean to be a disciple of Christ? Jesus Himself tells us in passages such as Luke 9:57-62. It means to follow Christ. If you think that is easy, remember that the condition is to be willing to set everything aside for the sake of Christ: dreams, possessions, family, ambitions, even life. Discipleship has to do with abandonment, denial, and even death. And for what? In order to gain Christ. The reward of the gospel is God Himself, the greatest treasure one can ever possess. So, when you think in terms of this reward, then the requirement is insignificant.
Listen to what Elisabeth Elliot wrote about her husband killed in trying to take the gospel to a tribe: “Jim’s aim was to know God. His course, obedience-the only course that could lead to the fulfillment of his aim. His end was what some would call an extraordinary death, although in facing death he had quietly pointed out that many have died because of obedience to God. He and the other men with whom he died were hailed as heroes, ‘martyrs.’ I do not approve. Nor would they have approved. Is the distinction between living for Christ and dying for Him, after all, so great? Is not the second the logical conclusion of the first? Furthermore, to live for God is to die, ‘dayly,’ as the apostle Paul put it. It is to lose everything that we may gain Christ. It is in thus laying down our lives that we find them.”
Help us Lord to count to cost, take up our cross and follow You. Amin.
Professor Mihaila - Liberty University
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