Why Jesus Tells Us to Count the Cost

On a cool September morning, I purposely arrived at the cemetery before my walking companion so I could spend time alone with God. I brought up a topic that had regularly surfaced for several months. I wanted to better manage my schedule so I could accomplish all the things I thought I should be doing. I seemed to live in a constant state of being behind.

That day, I concentrated on the most important piece of the plan: I needed to reorganize my schedule so I could get up considerably earlier each morning to spend time with God before anything stole my attention away from him. I knew this was the key to everything else. However, I’m not an early riser. When I reached the age that I was allowed to set my own bedtime, I chose late. It became a lifelong habit, and that has been a huge obstacle to my desired schedule change.

As we walked along, I tried once more to figure out how I could make this early rising time work. That itself was a clear indication of why it had not yet come about; I was trying to make it happen. My thinking went like this: If I manage to shave off this much time at night, then I can get up this much earlier in the morning. It made perfect sense to me.

In the midst of my logical thinking, though, God whispered in my heart, “You are working in the wrong direction.” He wasn’t condemning me. He wasn’t frustrated with me. But in the gentlest way possible, he was telling me that my perspective was completely wrong. His words were so clear to me, and I immediately understood what he meant.

My approach was, If I give “this” up, how much of God will that get me? But it should have been, I want all of God, and I will give up whatever is necessary to make that happen! It’s the difference between trying to hold on to my way of living and wholeheartedly following Jesus in discipleship.

A disciple of Jesus is one who believes in him as Lord and Savior, learns from his teachings, and strives to live like him. Jesus spoke to large crowds traveling with him about the cost of following him. He knew many of them were there only because he fed the hungry or because they wanted to see miracles, so he told them that to be his disciples they must carry their cross daily (Luke 9:23), meaning sacrifice their lives. Then he gave them an illustration.

“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.’” (Luke 14:28-30)

Sit down means to tarry, to settle (hover, dwell), to continue (Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance) and gives the idea that considerable time and thought is put into a decision. Choosing to follow Jesus is not done on a whim. If we want to build a life of Christ-like character in which to dwell with Jesus, we must consider what it will cost us. Therefore, Jesus tells us plainly so we can make our decision.

According to MacLaren, contrary to what we often think, estimating the cost is not done to deter us from beginning. Rather, it helps us recognize that we will never have enough and we will soon be bankrupt if we rely on only our own resources. That is not meant to be discouraging. If we understand our poverty, we are more ready to put our confidence and trust in the sufficiency of Jesus.

“Then we shall find that the sweet and certain assurance that we have Him for the possession and the treasure of our lives will make parting with everything else, not painful, but natural and necessary and a joy, as the expression of our supreme love to Him.” (MacLaren’s Expositions)

Dallas Willard echoes this idea. He says, “This counting of the cost is not a moaning and groaning session. The counting of the cost is to bring us to the point of clarity and decisiveness. It is to help us see.” [1] He illustrates it with another scripture. “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field” (Matthew 13:44). The man was not in turmoil about what it would cost him to obtain the treasure. He joyfully sold everything because he recognized the treasure as priceless.

I’m ashamed to say that over two years went by after that fall morning with only weak attempts on my part at changing my schedule to reflect more intention and organization. But several months ago, God’s words to me in the cemetery produced concrete results. I began setting my alarm early every day. When I get up, I close myself in a room where I will have no distractions as I commune with God. So I won’t be watching the clock, I set a timer for the length of time I have committed to him each morning.

I’m building my tower—my life with Jesus—one stone at a time. It’s a work in progress. My alarm consistently goes off at the same early hour every day, but there are mornings when I wake up slower than I want to. I may get started a little (or a lot) later than scheduled, but my sacred time with Jesus now comes before other activities.

Our towers will not look alike. God works with each of us in different areas at different times and in different ways. But if you want to follow Jesus in discipleship, you will need to count the cost for yourself. And when you do, you will learn that you don’t have enough resources to complete the job. However, God will lovingly accept what you do have and supply the rest.

My hope is that you will find Jesus to be the priceless treasure that is worth all you have and that you will experience immense joy in building your life with him.

Scripture quotations are from NIV.

Greek definition and commentary is from Bible Hub. See Resources.

[1] Faith that Matters: 365 Devotions from Classic Christian Leaders, p.116

Feature photo by Vitaly Gariev on Unsplash