Worth It to Follow Jesus

<p>Ronit came from a religious but non-Christian family. Their discussions about spiritual matters were dry and academic. &ldquo;I kept praying all the prayers,&rdquo; she said, &ldquo;but I wasn&rsquo;t hearing [from God].&rdquo;</p> <p>She began to study the Bible. Slowly, steadily, she inched toward faith in Jesus as the Messiah. Ronit describes the defining moment: &ldquo;I heard a clear voice in my heart saying, &lsquo;You&rsquo;ve heard enough. You&rsquo;ve seen enough. It&rsquo;s time to just believe.&rsquo; &rdquo; But Ronit faced a problem: her father. &ldquo;My dad was like Mount Vesuvius erupted,&rdquo; she recalls.</p> <p>When Jesus walked this earth, crowds followed Him (Luke 14:25). We don&rsquo;t&rsquo; know exactly what they were looking for, but He was looking for disciples. And that comes with a cost. &ldquo;If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters&mdash;yes, even their own life&mdash;such a person cannot be my disciple,&rdquo; He said (v. 26). He told a story about building a tower. &ldquo;Won&rsquo;t you first sit down and estimate the cost?&rdquo; He asked (v. 28). Jesus&rsquo; point wasn&rsquo;t that we&rsquo;re to literally hate family; rather, it&rsquo;s that we must choose Him over everything else. He said, &ldquo;You who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples&rdquo; (v. 33).</p> <p>Ronit loves her family deeply, yet she concluded, &ldquo;Whatever the cost, I figured it&rsquo;s worth it.&rdquo; What might you need to give up to follow Jesus as He guides You?</p>