THE COST OF WALKING WITH GOD

19 Then a certain scribe came and said to Him, “Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go.”
20 And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.”
21 Then another of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.”
22 But Jesus said to him, “FOLLOW ME, AND LET THE [spiritually] DEAD BURY THEIR OWN DEAD
Matthew 8:19-22 (NKJV)

• Those who have not accepted Jesus as their Lord and Saviour are dead whilst they are living: "But she [he] who lives in pleasure is dead while she [he] lives" (1 Timothy 5:6).
WHOEVER has not accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour cannot walk with God.

• A relationship with God is established through Jesus Christ: "Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. NO ONE COMES TO THE FATHER EXCEPT THROUGH ME" (John 14:6).
• Those who do not acknowledge the Son do not have the Father: "Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either; he [she] who acknowledges the Son has the Father also" (1 John 2:23).
• Everyone who lives in Sin is spiritually dead, the spirit of such has not been reborn, thus they could not Walk with God. THOSE who would serve God would do in spirit and truth: "GOD IS SPIRIT, AND THOSE WHO WORSHIP HIM MUST WORSHIP IN SPIRIT AND TRUTH" (John 4:24).

"But Jesus said to him, “FOLLOW ME, AND LET THE [spiritually] DEAD BURY THEIR OWN DEAD." Matthew 8:22 (NKJV)

• Those who are spiritually dead would not understand spiritual things, and would not know NOR appreciate the importance of being committed to the work of the Kingdom (1 Corinthians 2:14).
• The person who requested to go and bury his father was answered by Jesus that following Him, Jesus, is of utmost importance, and other people are there who could do the burial; that he, the disciple, should follow Him FIRST.
  TO walk with God, be a disciple of Christ, would cost you something!
• Walking with God entails sacrifices!
  IF you are genuinely born-again, some things have to go in your Life at salvation. In other words, a number of things have to be done away with If you want to truly walk with God, as you claimed to be born-again (Matthew 16:24,25).
• Your relationship with some people has to be ended, not on the basis of hatred but to keep yourself from being soiled: "Do not be deceived: “EVIL COMPANY CORRUPTS GOOD HABITS" (1 Corinthians 15:33).
• You cannot be a friend of the world and still have sweet communion with the Holy Spirit: "Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? WHOEVER THEREFORE WANTS TO BE A FRIEND OF THE WORLD MAKES HIMSELF [herself] AN ENEMY OF GOD" (James 4:4).
• The deeper your relationship with God, the more you would be hated By the world (John 15:18-20).
  IF you still want to be relevant in the gathering of unbelieving friends after you have accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour, you cannot please God.
• If you have made up your mind to walk with God, He would not want to share your affection with any other person or THING.

• If you have chosen to follow Jesus, do with all your heart, without any reservation or compromise.

• There is no genuine reason for not following Him as you should, after you have pledged your allegiance to Christ.
  YOUR making is in following Him with all your heart.
• Jesus turned down the scribe who wanted to follow Him (John 8:19), being the fact that He knows the heart of all men.
  THE scribe would have made the decision without proper consideration, not knowing the gravity of what he wanted to do; thus Jesus said, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head."
  IN other words, he should thinks of what it takes to follow Him.
• Those who wanted to follow Jesus should be ready to sacrifice all things, nothing should be too big for them to sacrifice.
  APOSTLE Paul said he counted all his attainments, achievements, as rubbish for the knowledge of Christ Jesus.

1. "But what things were gain to me, THIS I HAVE COUNTED LOSS FOR CHRIST.
2. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the KNOWLEDGE of Christ Jesus my Lord, FOR WHOM I HAVE SUFFERED THE LOSS OF ALL THINGS, AND COUNT THEM AS RUBBISH, THAT I MAY GAIN CHRIST."
   Philippians 3:7,8 (NKJV)

IF following Christ has not cost you anything, you are yet to start your Christianity journey.
WHAT has following Christ Jesus cost you?

• Let the dead bury their own dead!

• You will need to make up your mind on WHO to please, God or the world.
  IF all you crave and desire is about things of the world, It means you cannot please Him (1 John 2:15-21).
• Whoever wants to walk with God must be Dead to Sin and the world: "11 Likewise you also, RECKON [consider] YOURSELVES TO BE DEAD INDEED TO SIN, BUT ALIVE TO GOD IN CHRIST JESUS OUR LORD. 12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts" (Romans 6:11,12).
• When you strive to please God, make Him and His kingdom your first priority, you become a candidate for His blessings: "BUT SEEK FIRST THE KINGDOM OF GOD and His righteousness, AND ALL THESE THINGS SHALL BE ADDED TO YOU" (Matthew 6:33).
• Jesus wants His disciples to be those who wanted to follow Him learn of Him; not those who wanted to follow Him because of what to Get or receive from Him.
  THOSE who follow Jesus to learn of Him, and practice what they have learned, are really the disciples. THOSE who however want to follow only because of what to receive from Him, are shallow and they can easily turn away from Him, If they could not get what they wanted.

• Benefits of being a disciple
I. You will be like Him. A disciple is a learner or a pupil, learning from his or her teacher or master.

• A disciple grows to be like his TEACHER: "A disciple is not above his teacher, BUT EVERYONE WHO IS PERFECTLY TRAINED WILL BE LIKE HIS TEACHER" (Luke 6:40).
  READ: Matthew 10:24,25
  II. You will have His presence with you. An Aura of His glory and power that is noticeable would surround you and be with you (Exodus 34:29,30).
  III. You partake His nature, wisdom, power, and glory (Hebrews 3:14; 12:10).
  IV. Signs will follow you. You will be a signs carrier, a distributor of miracles, not the one looking for one ((Mark 16:17).
  V. Host of hell will recognize you and tremble as you speak the Word of God (1 Samuel 3:19; Acts 19:15).
  VI. Mysteries of the kingdom would be made known to you; you will know His ways not His acts only (Luke 8:9,10; Psalm 103:7).
  VII. You will reign with Jesus in His Kingdom when He comes (Romans 6:5; 2 Timothy 2:11,12).

• Be ready to pay whatever Price. Make sacrifices, give whatever it takes to follow Jesus.
BE a good disciple, or follower, for there is no gain in playing religion and following Him afar off.
YOU are called to relate with God, not play religion!

• Christianity is about learning to walk with God, that is, its about knowing His principles, patterns, and His ways.
  AS you come to Jesus Christ, learn of Him that you may have rest, peace for your SOUL.

• You will not fail in Jesus' name.
Peace!