March 2: Consider The Cost
Scripture
As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” 58 Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.” 59 He said to another man, “Follow me.” But he replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” 60 Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” 61 Still another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say goodbye to my family.” 62 Jesus replied, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”
– Luke 9:57-62
In Luke 9, several people express a desire to follow Jesus. On the surface, their responses seem sincere. “I will follow you wherever you go.” “Let me first bury my father.” “Let me go back and say goodbye.” Yet Jesus answers in ways that feel sharp, even unsettling. Why does He seem to make it harder rather than easier?
Jesus is not playing hard to get. He is clarifying what discipleship actually means. Following Him is not casual attachment. It is not something we fit around our existing priorities. The Son of Man had no place to lay His head. His Kingdom is not built on comfort, convenience, or divided loyalty. Luke includes this account to show us that the call to follow Jesus is wholehearted.
The Kingdom of God cannot be earned, but it must be embraced with an undivided heart. We bring nothing to purchase it, yet we cannot cling to competing allegiances while receiving it. Jesus offers salvation freely, but following Him requires surrender. As Dietrich Bonhoeffer famously wrote, “When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.”¹ That death is not destruction, but surrender. It is the laying down of our plans, our timing, and even our security in order to gain something infinitely greater.
Elsewhere, Jesus compares the Kingdom to a treasure worth selling everything to possess. No one regrets giving up pebbles to gain a diamond. The real question is not whether following Him costs something, but whether we truly see the surpassing value of what we gain. Have you placed your hand to the plow? Are you looking back? Today is an invitation to renew your surrender, not out of fear, but out of trust. Lay down whatever competes for your allegiance and fix your eyes on Him. The Kingdom is not only worth it, it is life itself.
Reflection
1. Is there an area of your life where you have been hesitant to fully surrender to Jesus?
2. What “competing allegiance” might be quietly pulling your heart away from wholehearted obedience?
3. Do you truly believe the Kingdom is of greater value than what you are being asked to lay down?
Prayer
Pray for a deeper understanding of the surpassing value of Christ and His Kingdom. Ask the Lord to reveal any divided loyalties or areas where you are holding back. Invite Him to deepen your trust and give you joy in wholehearted surrender.
Footnote
¹ Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship (New York: Macmillan, 1959), 79.