No 29

(A Price to Pay)

There is a price to pay for becoming a Christian – we receive this wonderful inner peace that only God can give but we quickly realize that not everyone shares this same enthusiasm.

When Jesus preached the Gospel, He did not say that life would be easy; on the contrary, He said “…If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.” (Luke 9:23b); the gospels of Matthew and Mark record similar statements. To deny oneself is contrary to human behaviour; we usually tend to take very good care of ourselves. And if that were not enough, Jesus went on to say elsewhere“He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.” (Matt 10:37). Not only does one have to deny self, but also the ones we love?? Obviously, we do not abandon our families; this would be contrary to other portions of Scripture, but Jesus must be our top priority, otherwise we are not fit to be His disciples.

Then comes the time when we must confess Him before others; this is just as demanding “ Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.” (Matt 10:32,33). Does that mean that I will not get into heaven because I didn’t talk about Jesus to my neighbour the other day when I met him accidentally in the mall? No, but eventually a true Christian will acquire the boldness to do so; the apostle Paul said to the Romans “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth” (1:16). There is a price to pay when we become believers but the rewards far exceed any difficulty or uneasiness we may face here on earth.