The timing of this blog is a little uncomfortable! I remembered I needed to write about the cost of discipleship in the middle of studying the discrepancies between the Synoptics!!!
I had just started a conversation with myself that went a little like this:
I can't do this!
I'm out of my depth!
Lord, why did you sign me up for this because it's obvious I haven't got a clue what I'm doing?
Do I really need all this stuff for the kind of writing I do?
This might be one challenge too far.
Why on earth did I take this on, I'll be nearly fifty when I graduate?
A couple of months ago I was set a new challenge by God to complete a degree in Theology. I had convinced myself I didn't really need a certificate to support my writing ministry because if God called me, then He will equip me. It turns out that this is His way of equipping me.
Over the past few years, God has used challenging personal circumstances to shift my perspective and increasingly rely on Him before looking to anyone or anything else. Before signing up for the degree I had decided I needed a breather, a time to step back a little from the whole growing and maturing in Christ thing. Hadn't I earned it? But that isn't the life I believe we are called to as Christians. God was ready to move me forward in His plan for my life and I have learned the hard way that obedience is always the best response when God calls.
"It is true that God may have called you to be exactly where you are. But, it is absolutely vital to grasp that he didn't call you there so you could settle in and live your life in comfort and superficial peace."
Francis Chan
Kerching encourages us to take time to look at what we have signed up for as Christians. If I'm not careful then my mind has a tendency to focus on all the negatives attached to something God is clearly leading me to live out as His disciple. It could be forgiving someone who I believe doesn't deserve it, or refusing to join in a conversation where some juicy gossip is being shared. It could be saying yes to something that scares the life out of me or saying no to something that will disappoint others.
If I'm not careful I can get hung up on what this life of discipleship costs, but that's not the whole deal.
A life committed to being a disciple of Jesus is a life of more not less, of abundance not deprivation. In the middle of our cost counting and assessing whether we are willing to give our all to God, we need to remember we serve a God who loves us and wants the best for us.
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