Contributing or Committed?

Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.  For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it.  What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?"
​                                                                                                                       ~Mark 8:34-36

​A hog and a hen sharing the same barnyard heard about a church’s program to feed the hungry. The hog and the hen discussed how they could help. 

​The hen said, “I’ve got it! We'll provide bacon and eggs for the church to feed the hungry.” The hog thought about the suggestion 

and said, “There’s one problem with your bacon and eggs solution. For you, it only requires a contribution, but from me, it will mean total commitment!”  That’s the cost of true discipleship.

If you read the interactions of Jesus throughout the Gospels, his questions and answers were specific to the heart of the person he was talking to.  To the rich man, he told him to give up his money.  To Nicodemus, he replied, you must be born again.  To the invalid, he asked if he wanted to be healed.

He loves us...and He knows the parts of our hearts that we keep hidden.

C.S. Lewis describes God's requirement for discipleship this way. "Give me all. I don’t want so much of your time and so much of your money and so much of your work. I want you...Hand over the whole natural self, all the desire you think innocent as well as the ones you think wicked – the whole outfit. I will give you a new self instead. In fact, I will give you myself; my own will shall become yours" (Mere Christianity).

Salvation is free,
but discipleship costs
everything we have.
    ~ Billy Graham

As we start this week, let's ask ourselves "Do we contribute or commit?  Are we on the fence or 'all in' "?

Learning together to be "all in"...