Have you ever experienced the rejection of not being selected for a dance or a sports team, or fought the pain of losing? Kids are being raised without a sense of discipline in our world today. Some children’s sports leagues don’t even keep score so that there are no losers. Other competitions give everyone a trophy so as to not damage their self esteem. Do you know that not everyone that wanted to follow Jesus was allowed to? Several walked away because they could not measure up to the standard or were not willing to make the sacrifice. I am talking about being a disciple of Jesus, not a Christian. There is a difference. In Luke 14 He told people they could not be his disciple if their priorities were messed up, or if they were not willing to crucify their greatest struggles. He told them they had to count the cost if they were going to follow Him. He told a young ruler that he couldn’t follow Him because he was too attached to his money. Can you imagine approaching Jesus and wanting to follow Him and having Him tell you that you were not able? All of us can be a Christian but there is a cost to being a disciple, and few are willing to be disciplined enough to receive the prize. We need to stop watering down Christianity and accepting mediocrity. Paul told us to run our race to win. Being a disciple requires discipline, but the prize is worth the effort.
