We can all look back in our lives and see a time when we accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. What a glorious time that was! We entered into the kingdom of God and our name was written in the Book of Life. This changed our eternal destiny.
Can we remember, though, when Christ gripped our life and we totally surrendered to Him? I am talking about the time that we realized that everything we do and say should be done to glorify Him. Life on earth is not for us to please ourselves, but to totally please Jesus.
There comes a time in our lives when we must daily live for Christ and not ever return to a life of sin. This total commitment to Christ is seen in the life of Julius Caesar. When Caesar landed on the shores of Britain with his Roman legions, he took a bold and decisive step to assure the success of his military venture. Ordering his men to halt on the edge of the Cliffs of Dover, he commanded them to look down at the water below. To their amazement, they saw every ship in which they had crossed the channel engulfed in flames. Caesar had deliberately cut off any possibility of retreat! Now that his soldiers were unable to return to the continent, there was nothing for them to do but advance and conquer! And that is exactly what they did. Just as Caesar made no means of retreat for his army, so we, as Christians, need to have no means of retreat in following Christ.
Jesus explains this principle by telling us to daily follow Him: “Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:27). Thus, there is a difference between us being a Christian and being a disciple.
The cost of discipleship is total commitment to Christ!
