What's the cost?
Jesus calls His disciples to pick-up His lot, that is, the lot of a condemned man.
The true story of missionary James Calvert (1813-1892) holds a glaring truth, this a modern western Christianity would rather conceal under its prosperity and its deadly alignment that is too ready to mimic the world.
Leaving his British homeland in 1838, he sailed to the Fijian Islands that found 'fame' as cannibals.
The captain of the ship in due course struck up a conversation with James. The purpose of this chat was to turn this young Christian around. He explained to James:
you will lose your life and the lives of those who travel with you if you go among those savages.
Calvert's reply well illustrates the cost of commitment:
we died before we came here!
He who does not give up everything he owns cannot be My disciple. (Luke 14:33)
The Last Word:
Jesus gave His life - so He requires yours.