opposed to anything that places conditions on our discipleship, especially connections to our old lives. This is because he demands top billing, and following him necessarily demands a defined break with our old lives. It’s the essence of repentance. The Shorter Catechism defines repentance unto life as “a saving grace,
whereby a sinner, out of a true sense of his sin, and apprehension of the mercy of God in Christ, does, with grief and hatred of his sin, turn from it unto God, with full purpose of, and endeavor after, new obedience” (#87). Think about this for a moment. A Christian understands his or her sin and the mercy of God in such a way that he or she turns from it and unto God, forsaking the old life and its sin while embracing the new life and its pursuit of obedience to God. This is exactly what Jesus called the third man to do. “Forsake that old life and follow me because we’re on the move.” Was he willing to do it? We don’t know.
A Pearl of Great Value Luke leaves us with big questions at the end of this passage. We don’t
know, nor can we know, whether any of these three men made the decision to follow Jesus. We don’t know if they were willing to pay the price. And I think that is Luke’s divinely inspired point. He wants us to ask the ques- tion of ourselves. Are we willing to pay the costs associated with following Jesus? Each one of us will identify with one of these characters, if not all of them, and we must decide if we are willing to follow Jesus. Some of us, no doubt, need to decide if we are willing to give up the comfortable and well-respected positions we now enjoy in order to pursue Christ and his call on our lives. Others of us need to make Christ and his cause the top priority of our lives. And some of us need to confront our past lives with its relationships and trappings that pull us away from Christ and our devotion to him. Inevitably, we will make our decision based on whether we believe that following Jesus is worth the cost. It’s how we make decisions, isn’t it? Is the payoff worth the cost? The Bible’s answer is a resounding, “Yes, Jesus is worth everything.” What is your answer? Jesus taught that the kingdom of God, which we enter through faith
and repentance, is like “a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on find- ing one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it” (Matt. 13:45-46). The value of the kingdom of God, as it is embodied in the King, the Lord Jesus himself, is far greater than anything you or I could ever dream of possessing on our own in this life or the next. Just ask yourself what in your life is more valuable than an eternity spent in the presence of your Creator who loved you enough to take human flesh upon himself, live a perfect life, and bear the wrath stored up for your sins by dying on a cross in your place? You don’t have anything more valuable than that. I promise. Friend, sell it all and throw yourself on Christ in faith. He is in-
finitely worthy of your life. Cash out your faith in yourself, endure the hardships in this world, repent of your sins, and trust him to get you home!?
Rev. Clint Davis is the pastor of Chester ARP Church in Chester, SC, where he has served for 17 years. He and his wife have three children: Sarah Grace (10), Joshua (8), and James (1).
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“Are we willing to pay the costs associated with
following Jesus?”
The Associate Reformed Presbyterian
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