Discipleship | a 5-Day Skate Church Movement Devotionalنموونە

the cost of discipleship

“If you refuse to take up your cross and follow me, you are not worthy of being mine. If you cling to your life, you will lose it; but if you give up your life for me, you will find it.” Matthew 10:38-39

One of the things Jesus talked about in His time on earth was what it meant to be a true follower of Him. Many people today think that if they become a Christian they will have an easy, stress-free life. Sadly, that’s just not the truth. Even Jesus said in John 16:33, “I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.”

I’ll be honest in saying that life won’t be easy at times; it will have its challenges, but one thing remains: God’s faithfulness. He promises never to leave us or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5); because of this promise, we can rest secure. We were not meant to simply cruise through life, but we were meant to live in relationship with God and others. As we grow deeper with the Lord and others, God, through His Holy Spirit, will begin to lead us more and more into His heart. He will bring things to mind that need to be dealt with or lead us into other places. There is a quote by a guy named Keith Green that says, “To obey is better than sacrifice.” We can give up our skateboarding, our camera, or our art, but this is meaningless unless we are in relationship with the Lord. To obey is the key. Sometimes it’s hard. Sometimes, He does ask us to give up stuff. But it is because He loves us and knows that our obedience will simply bring us closer to His heart and a deeper relationship with Him.

So what is the cost of discipleship? Obedience. Listening to the Lord and following Him. It’s not always going to be easy, but if anyone knows about challenges, skaters definitely do. As skateboarders, we can understand these challenges in a different way. We see the world in a different light than everyone else; we may fall 1,000 times on a trick, but we’re still going to get up and try it again until we stick it.

When we cruise through the streets, jump up curbs, bomb hills, avoid cracks, and hit ledges, we know how to get up. We will also have slams while following Jesus–sometimes it’s going to hurt, but God is still active and He cares for us.

Discipleship is a lifelong journey with God. It will be gnarly, it will be costly, but it’s totally worth it! When things don’t go according to plan, we need to trust that He is still in control. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not all tough suffering, but it’s a beautiful journey with God. When you look back from where you started, you will see the most amazing journey. When you film a part, it’s filled with ups and downs, joys and bummers, and you wonder if it’s worth it; but when you see the finished video, you finally look back and realize it was.

pushing further

1. Have you counted the cost of following Jesus?
2. Are you willing to pay the price of discipleship?

Want more content like this? We adapted this Plan from a 52-week Skate Church Movement Devotional Book. Get your book at skatechurchmovement.com.