Counting the Cost of My Cross First

[S] Luke 14:27 --
 ²⁷"Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.

[O] Two examples follow this verse which point out how critical it is to plan out the cost before taking action; we rarely just jump in without doing any calculation of the resources and costs to accomplish the task at hand much like what we started to do for the church as we are faced with the new year's ministry goals.  This is a very much needed exercise to go through.  However, underneath all of these goals and processes planned for lies a fundamental "cost" I must consider which is whether I will pay the price of carrying my cross and follow after the path Jesus walked or not.  If I am unwilling to meet this cost of action then I shouldn't even bother taking part in the church planning and execution in this new year because I would be fooling myself of doing some great deeds that may just look good.

This article of a teenage boy in Australia sacrificing his own life to save his younger brother and mother moved me because he didn't know how to swim and was very afraid of the water and yet during the split of a second, he made a choice to pay the price overcoming his own fear.  Man, just trying to imagine what was going through his head then choked me up.

[A] I remember picking up a book titled: Disciples are Made Not Born because the title said it all.  My desire to be Jesus' disciple will take much more than my simple desire.  I have to deeply ponder on what price of the cross I must "invest" and be willing to commit to it.  It will not be a smooth sailing and yet be willing to go through the storms regardless.

[P] Dear Father, I want to be Jesus' disciple.  I know this means more than just saying it and when I face the stormy situation like the teenage boy in the above article, may my faith be large enough to take the right path of carrying my cross for You.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.