Acting on the divine burdens that God gives us does not come without a cost. It often requires sacrifice, letting go of our plans and our desires for the betterment of God's kingdom and good plans. For Nehemiah, acting on his divine burden to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem meant stepping away from his comfortable life in Persia as the king's cupbearer, standing up against opposition, enduring the physical toll the rebuilding took on his body, and more. Even still, Nehemiah continued the important work of rebuilding Jerusalem’s walls. He knew, as we also know, that any sacrifice we make to follow God and obey Him is well worth any cost.
While He was on earth, Jesus made it clear that following Him comes with a cost in Luke 9. In this passage of Scripture, He spoke of the suffering He would face on the cross. He said, "The Son of Man must suffer many terrible things…He will be rejected by the elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of religious law. He will be killed, but on the third day He will be raised from the dead" (verse 22). Jesus' burden was clear: to rescue the world from sins. Acting on this burden, He explained, would come with a significant cost: suffering and death on a cross. After explaining what was to come, Jesus then explained that following Him also comes with a cost. He said, "If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross daily, and follow me” (verse 23). Jesus’ crowd would have understood exactly what “take up your cross daily” meant. You see, Rome was a world power at this point, and their common death sentence was crucifixion on a cross. This meant that Jewish people were familiar with seeing crucifixions on crosses. Jesus explains in these verses that following Him and doing something about the divine burdens God places on our hearts will come with a cost. After explaining the cost of following Him, Jesus added this: “If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it” (verse 24). In other words, the reward for following Christ is well worth the cost.
Maybe you have held back on acting on your divine burdens because of fear of what it might cost you. After all, following Jesus is costly. Choose courage today, my friend. After all, the reward for following Him, eternal life, far outweighs any cost we might experience on this earth.
Memorize Luke 9:23-24. Bring this verse to mind often, remembering that following Jesus comes with a cost. Remember, doing something about your divine burden may come with a cost, but by giving up our lives for the cause of Christ, we will actually save them.
Prayer Prompt: Use this prompt to guide you as you pray.
One day Jesus called together his twelve disciples[a] and gave them power and authority to cast out all demons and to heal all diseases. 2 Then he sent them out to tell everyone about the Kingdom of God and to heal the sick. 3 “Take nothing for your journey,” he instructed them. “Don’t take a walking stick, a traveler’s bag, food, money,[b] or even a change of clothes. 4 Wherever you go, stay in the same house until you leave town. 5 And if a town refuses to welcome you, shake its dust from your feet as you leave to show that you have abandoned those people to their fate.”
6 So they began their circuit of the villages, preaching the Good News and healing the sick.
7 When Herod Antipas, the ruler of Galilee,[c] heard about everything Jesus was doing, he was puzzled. Some were saying that John the Baptist had been raised from the dead. 8 Others thought Jesus was Elijah or one of the other prophets risen from the dead.
9 “I beheaded John,” Herod said, “so who is this man about whom I hear such stories?” And he kept trying to see him.
10 When the apostles returned, they told Jesus everything they had done. Then he slipped quietly away with them toward the town of Bethsaida. 11 But the crowds found out where he was going, and they followed him. He welcomed them and taught them about the Kingdom of God, and he healed those who were sick.
12 Late in the afternoon the twelve disciples came to him and said, “Send the crowds away to the nearby villages and farms, so they can find food and lodging for the night. There is nothing to eat here in this remote place.”
13 But Jesus said, “You feed them.”
“But we have only five loaves of bread and two fish,” they answered. “Or are you expecting us to go and buy enough food for this whole crowd?” 14 For there were about 5,000 men there.
Jesus replied, “Tell them to sit down in groups of about fifty each.” 15 So the people all sat down. 16 Jesus took the five loaves and two fish, looked up toward heaven, and blessed them. Then, breaking the loaves into pieces, he kept giving the bread and fish to the disciples so they could distribute it to the people. 17 They all ate as much as they wanted, and afterward, the disciples picked up twelve baskets of leftovers!
18 One day Jesus left the crowds to pray alone. Only his disciples were with him, and he asked them, “Who do people say I am?”
19 “Well,” they replied, “some say John the Baptist, some say Elijah, and others say you are one of the other ancient prophets risen from the dead.”
20 Then he asked them, “But who do you say I am?”
Peter replied, “You are the Messiah[d] sent from God!”
21 Jesus warned his disciples not to tell anyone who he was. 22 “The Son of Man[e] must suffer many terrible things,” he said. “He will be rejected by the elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of religious law. He will be killed, but on the third day he will be raised from the dead.”
23 Then he said to the crowd, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross daily, and follow me. 24 If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. 25 And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but are yourself lost or destroyed? 26 If anyone is ashamed of me and my message, the Son of Man will be ashamed of that person when he returns in his glory and in the glory of the Father and the holy angels. 27 I tell you the truth, some standing here right now will not die before they see the Kingdom of God.”
