Count the cost

"Lord, I will follow You wherever You go."  Luke 9:57 NKJV. (Read Luke 9:57 - 62)

Whenever Jesus calls us to do something for Him, there's a cost to consider. Now, it may be to be an usher in church, making the tea and coffee, being a House Group leader or working on the Sunday school team. Then again, it may be something more in depth, such as pastoring a church, being an evangelist or going to Bible College.
Whatever it is, there's a cost to consider. At first it can seem amazing and quite a challenge. However, as we think more about it and the time draws near to put this into practice, it can be scary and we wrestle with our comfort zone. It's nice and comfortable in the comfort zone and we are not as exposed as we will be if we carry out the task.

Jesus addresses this as 3 men speak to Him. The first man says that he will follow Jesus wherever he goes. However, Jesus looks at him and gives him a reality check. 'Do you really know what you want to do?' (v58 paraphrase).The second man comes along and Jesus says, 'FollowMe'. The man replies, 'Lord, let me  first go and bury my father.' (v59).The man expressed that he was putting his dead father first. Jesus would have known that his father had not just that moment died and the burial was probably in hand, he was putting an excuse there before he'd even started.
The third man was similar. He told Jesus he would follow Him but wanted to go home to bid the family farewell.
Jesus was looking for people who would go forward with Him and not look back. Imagine if Jesus had looked back as He went to the cross. It would probably have been quite a different story. Jesus is after commitment!

Do you feel the call of God on your life? This may be to serve the tea and coffee or it may be to train as a pastor. They are both important tasks and Jesus does not measure the importance of either role. The are equal to Him. The thing is, He will not force you to do this. He wants you to be willing or it won't work. Whatever it is that you feel called to do, you need to count the cost. There's always a price to pay. Do you want to serve tea and coffee to people after church? Do you want to be involved in Sunday school, the worship band, preaching or training to be a pastor? There's price to pay. It takes commitment and it means coming out of your comfort zone to do this.

You need to ask yourself if the task is what you want to do. It's always scary. When I first preached, I had a fit of the stutters and nearly passed out on the spot. But you get used to it.

Is God asking you to do something for Him? It may be a huge task He's asking of you and the thought of it petrifies you. This is why counting the cost is wise. He won't ask you to do something that is impossible for you to do. He's very accurate in assessing a person's capabilities.
The choice though, is very much yours.

If this reading has spoken to you, please give me some feedback  dailylifewithjesus@protonmail.com