Today's Passage - Luke 14:28-35

River of Life Christian Church ︳www.rolcc.net/english Luke 14:28-35   'Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it?  For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, saying, "This fellow began to build and was not able to finish."  'Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Will he not first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand?  If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace.  In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.  Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again?  It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; it is thrown out.  He who has ears to hear, let him hear.'   The Lord taught us here that those who follow the Lord must calculate the price they need to pay, and that is a refreshing concept for most people.  When preaching the gospel, many only preach half of it, which is the peace and joy one would receive by believing in Jesus, but we forget to tell people about the price for following the Lord.   Following Jesus is not a trivial matter, for it is something that may cost our life.  In the early church, disciples were willing to die for their faith.  The first Chinese Christians were also frequently persecuted and even cast out from their homes.  The early church had tremendous momentum because they knew the price of suffering they must pay, and they were even willing to sacrifice their life for the Lord.  Such a fearless army cannot be defeated, and thus even the Roman Empire became a Christian nation.   When you and I are following the Lord, have we calculated the price?  It might not be the will of God for us to sacrifice for the Lord, but He has called us to live for Him.  It is not to live an ordinary life, but it's to put ourselves in the path of death to ourselves.  It is to live our daily life for our own satisfaction, but rather to seek satisfaction of the Lord; it's not to seek our own good, but to seek the good for the Lord.  Only when we are willing to live for the Lord that way, we will be able to conquer all temptations and attacks from the world.  The Lord has said that "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God."  Once we decide to follow the Lord, God grace will be with us through the rest of our life.     Pray with Pastor Tong           Dear Lord, please help us to understand how to calculate the price we must pay, so that we will be truly willing to surrender our life, time and energy to live for you.  Let the beauty of the Lord be manifested in our life.  I thank you and I pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!