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Sunday, July 22, 2012: "Matthew 8-What's the Cost?"

So recently I was reading through and old journal and found my "paper blog" that I was working on while at youth camp last year. I was trying to keep up with the New Testament Challenge reading plan, so I wrote out what I would have typed into this notebook. I'd like to finally post it here. This post was written about Matthew 8. Here ya go! :)


Before you make a decision, you usually weigh the pros and cons. You make a decision on previous experiences or present responsibilities. But how many times do we choose to give up everything to follow Christ's leading? It's what Jesus tells us to do, but we don't do it. Why? Because we count the cost, we consider the sacrifice required. We give up because it gets too hard, it requires more from us than we want to give.

Look at Matthew 8:18-22. Two men came to Jesus and said they would follow Him. Jesus knew the heart of the first man and saw his intentions: he wanted something comfortable for himself. Jesus' reply to this is found in verse 20: "Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head." After hearing this, the man turned and left. The second man who came asked to bury his father first. Now, you'd think that would be a reasonable request. But Jesus said, "let the dead bury their own dead." What? Isn't family important? Jesus isn't saying to neglect your responsibility in your family. He's saying don't let your family, or anything else for that matter, become an idol and rise in importance over God. How many times do we do that? How many times do we allow something or someone become more important than God? I do it all the time.

God's Word tells us in Luke 9:23 that if we are going to follow Him, we must 1) deny ourselves, 2) take up our cross, and 3) follow Him. Deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow Him. Do you see what kind of a sacrifice we must make if we want to follow Christ? But how many times do we count the cost of following Him and let that get in the way? Just remember the ultimate sacrifice of the cross, the debt hat Jesus alone could pay. As I write these words, the song "You Don't Count the Cost" comes to mind. The last line of the song says, "When it came to Jesus, He didn't count the cost." Wow! What an amazing example of sacrifice and love! It just doesn't make sense to me! How could Jesus, the Son of God, not look at the possible results of His obedience to the Father? Because He loved us so much and knew that we would have no way to have eternal  life with Him if He didn't make the Ultimate Sacrifice. He didn't count the cost of obedience because of His love for us; if we say we love Him, shouldn't we not count the cost of obedience to God? Will you sacrifice everything for Him?

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