Count the Cost of Discipleship! — Lessons from Luke 14

The Cost of Being a Disciple

²⁵A large crowd was following Jesus. He turned around and said to them, ²⁶“If you want to be my disciple, you must, by comparison, hate everyone else—your father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even your own life. Otherwise, you cannot be my disciple. ²⁷And if you do not carry your own cross and follow me, you cannot be my disciple.

²⁸“But don’t begin until you count the cost. For who would begin construction of a building without first calculating the cost to see if there is enough money to finish it? ²⁹Otherwise, you might complete only the foundation before running out of money, and then everyone would laugh at you. ³⁰They would say, ‘There’s the person who started that building and couldn’t afford to finish it!’

³¹“Or what king would go to war against another king without first sitting down with his counselors to discuss whether his army of 10,000 could defeat the 20,000 soldiers marching against him? ³²And if he can’t, he will send a delegation to discuss terms of peace while the enemy is still far away. ³³So you cannot become my disciple without giving up everything you own.

³⁴“Salt is good for seasoning. But if it loses its flavor, how do you make it salty again?

³⁵Flavorless salt is good neither for the soil nor for the manure pile. It is thrown away. Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand!”

Psalm 80 New Living Translation (NLT) —Please listen, O Shepherd of Israel, you who lead Joseph’s descendants like a flock

Psalm 80

For the choir director: A psalm of Asaph, to be sung to the tune “Lilies of the Covenant.”
¹Please listen, O Shepherd of Israel,
    you who lead Joseph’s descendants like a flock.
O God, enthroned above the cherubim,
    display your radiant glory
²    to Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh.
Show us your mighty power.
    Come to rescue us!
³Turn us again to yourself, O God.
    Make your face shine down upon us.
    Only then will we be saved.
⁴O Lord God of Heaven’s Armies,
    how long will you be angry with our prayers?
⁵You have fed us with sorrow
    and made us drink tears by the bucketful.
⁶You have made us the scorn^[a] of neighboring nations.
    Our enemies treat us as a joke.
⁷Turn us again to yourself, O God of Heaven’s Armies.
    Make your face shine down upon us.
    Only then will we be saved.
⁸You brought us from Egypt like a grapevine;
    you drove away the pagan nations and transplanted us into your land.
⁹You cleared the ground for us,
    and we took root and filled the land.
¹⁰Our shade covered the mountains;
    our branches covered the mighty cedars.
¹¹We spread our branches west to the Mediterranean Sea;
    our shoots spread east to the Euphrates River.^[b]
¹²But now, why have you broken down our walls
    so that all who pass by may steal our fruit?
¹³The wild boar from the forest devours it,
    and the wild animals feed on it.
¹⁴Come back, we beg you, O God of Heaven’s Armies.
    Look down from heaven and see our plight.
Take care of this grapevine
¹⁵    that you yourself have planted,
    this son you have raised for yourself.
¹⁶For we are chopped up and burned by our enemies.
    May they perish at the sight of your frown.
¹⁷Strengthen the man you love,
    the son of your choice.
¹⁸Then we will never abandon you again.
    Revive us so we can call on your name once more.
¹⁹Turn us again to yourself, O Lord God of Heaven’s Armies.
    Make your face shine down upon us.
    Only then will we be saved.