COMMITMENT

The dictionary defines it as ... a pledge or obligation to follow a certain course of action. 

Scripture takes it a step further. Committing oneself to the Lord is one thing ... leaving everything else behind is another. 

Jesus explained the cost of following Him:

• It is an arduous journey of faith, not comfort ... Now it happened that someone said to Him, “Lord, I will follow You wherever You go.” And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” (Luke 9:57-58)

• It requires undivided loyalty to Christ, even at the expense of familial obligations ... Then He said to another, “Follow Me.” But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of God.” (Luke 9:59-60)

• It demands a deliberate response. Anything that can delay, divert, or derail it must be avoided ... And another also said, “Lord, I will follow You, but let me first go and bid them farewell who are at my house.” But Jesus said to him, “No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.” (Luke 9:61-62)

Christ describes this 'commitment' in no uncertain terms ... If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. (Luke 9:23)

Many choose to cover themselves with a thin veneer of Christianity ... molded to fit comfortably over an unchanged life. True discipleship is not compatible with that egocentric theology. 

For it has no cost.