Mark 8:34-35
"Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and that of the Gospel will save it."
The scriptures are full of stories of money, cost of things, etc. The story of the moneychangers in the temple, tax collectors and their standing in society, the parable of the good steward, and the story of the rich young man are just a few of the many stories about commerce and monetary impacts on the faith. There is a cost to doing effective ministry work, some of it monetary, some the giving of time, and some of talent. But there is always some kind of cost.
Today we read of Jesus telling his disciples of the cost of following him. The wage is denial of yourself. Yesterday we looked at denial of sin and the cost Jesus had to endure for our salvation. In today's passage the cost to follow Jesus is to give up everything. Jesus is not looking for a boatload of money to trade for the kingdom; he's looking for a verbal and total life commitment. He's basically saying that if you promise to commit your entire self to me, then I'll give you eternal life. He goes on in the next line to ask two questions: "What profit is there for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? What could one give in exchange for his life?" You can be sure that discipleship has a price. Are you willing to ante up to get in the game? Are you willing to pay the price to follow Christ? It can be a significant price, but to not jump in is a mistake that will be regretted for eternity.
