this is not a cost vs. benefit deal...

In most areas of life it would be pretty stupid to not weigh the pros and cons, in fact, it's a great idea. What about God though? Luke 14:27-30,33 says

27...anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.
28"Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? 29For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, 30saying, 'This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.'33 In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.

Wow. Talk about intense words from Jesus. We can't call ourselves His disciples if we don't carry our cross AND follow Him. Jesus goes tough places - not only did he carry his cross - he went to it and died there, and he asks us to follow Him? WHAT! This is utter craziness, yeah he rose from the dead on the third day... but what about us? What if it is God's will that we die for the cause of Christ but aren't resurrected? Hmmm, that does not seem like the rosy Christian life I signed up for. Well, that would be my own stupidity then - Jesus clearly tells us to sit down and count the cost. We shouldn't lay a foundation of saying the sinner's prayer/accepting salvation if we haven't first counted the cost. If we end up not being able to live out the life we will be ridiculed, the name of Christ and Christians will be mocked BECAUSE of us - because we did not FIRST sit down and estimate the cost of Christianity. I can tell you right now that it's pricey, but you'll have to sit down yourself and calculate what you must give up - a paycheck, a car, monthly manicures, eating out every Sunday, your freedom, your job, your house, your security, your retirement fund, your life. Jesus might ask for any of these things. You'd better have a list to pull out and show you sat down and estimated the cost, and when you totaled it up at the bottom the value of all of that was nothing compared to the love of Christ. If God doesn't outweigh everything, if you aren't willing to give up everything for him then don't try to build a tower you can't finish. If we are holding onto something, anything, and unwilling to give it up, we cannot be Jesus' disciple (one who adheres to His doctrines. Because if we were His disciple we would realize that He may ask for the very thing we want to hold onto. So we must decide; would we rather have anything over Christ? If we would choose something over Him we should not waste time on laying a foundation until we have counted the cost and found Christ worthy of whatever small price we must pay.

Count the cost and carry your cross
Choose to chase Christ