Dear Christian friends:

We say that we are Christians. What is a Christian? We sign it this way, (sign it). A Christian is a person who believes in Jesus Christ and then follows Him in His life. Another name for Christian is disciple. We sign that, "follower."

We Christians are followers of Jesus. Do we really understand what that means? When we read in the Bible of how Jesus lived and then compare our lives with His we see that we do not really follow Him today. Maybe we don't know what it means to follow Jesus.

In our text Jesus shows us very clearly what it means to follow Him. Following Jesus is not cheap. It costs the follower very much.

One man in our text thought it was easy to follow Jesus. He was very excited and eagerly said to Jesus, "I will follow You anywhere you go." Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes and birds in the air have nests, but the Son of Man doesn't have a place to lay His head." Jesus means to tell us, "If you follow Me you may not have a house. You must be ready to give up comforts and endure hardships for my sake. Jesus' work is the most important work on earth. We must not let anything else bother us from doing His work.

We all know what Jesus wants us to do. The Ten Commandments are very clear. His command is to preach the gospel, home church and missions. If we do what Jesus wants us to do, we have to endure hardships. You cannot follow Jesus without great cost. It will cost you friends. It will cost you comforts and luxuries.

Have you seen the movie, "A Man for All Seasons" at St. Louis Park? That movie is about Thomas Moore who was the prime minister of England. King Edward VII wanted him to approve of his divorce. Thomas Moore knew the King was wrong. He resigned. Later he was executed because He followed Jesus' Word and refused to agree with the King in sin. Thomas Moore gave up much comfort, riches, his wife, and daughter to be true and follow Jesus. Following Jesus cost Thomas Moore his home, wife and children and finally his life.

Jesus says, "If any man come after me and hate not his father and mother and sister and brother, he cannot be My disciple ... He that loveth father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me."

What has following Jesus cost you? Have you given up anything for Jesus' sake yet? Are you suffering trouble and hardship because of your faith and life following Jesus? If you are suffering hardships and following Jesus has cost you much be happy and thank God, you are a true follower of Jesus. Jesus says, "Happy are they that mourn for they shall be comforted ... happy are they that get persecuted for doing right, theirs is the Kingdom of heaven."

But if you are not suffering hardships; if following Jesus has cost you little or nothing; if you do not give anything for Him and His work you should be ashamed and afraid and ask yourself, "Am I really following Jesus or am I following the ways of the world?"

In our text Jesus says that following Him is like a man plowing in the field. If the man looks back over his shoulder he will make a crooked furrow row and spoil the ploughing. So any Christian that looks back to the world and desires the comforts and pleasures of the world is not good enough for God's kingdom.

We have one chief purpose here on earth and that purpose is to give honor and praise to Jesus our God and Savior. Our purpose is not to earn a profit or earn riches. We should always ask ourselves, "Does Jesus want me to do what I am doing?" Then do what Jesus wants no matter what others may think or say, not matter what it may cost you. It may cost you a lot even your house, friends and wife or life. But you will be happy in your heart because you did what was right and kind and good.

Jesus did that when He came here on earth to suffer and die for our sins. Jesus did what God wanted Him to do. It cost Him very much, but He was happy and satisfied at last.

When we think about these things we surely must see our sins and failures. Many of us do not give up trips or pleasures so we can do God's work. Our church doesn't even cost us ten percent of our income. May God help us.

Amen.