Jesus said whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he shall come in his own glory, and in his Father’s, and of the holy angels. Luke 9:26 KJV . This was no mere statement because many are ashamed of the Lord today.

Many Christians are ashamed to witness and share the gospel with their colleagues at work, friends, family, and strangers. To some, preaching the gospel does not dignify.

Apart from the earthly benefits that the Lord promised those who follow Him till the end rich eternal rewards. Those who are faithfully following Christ must know that He has made special eternal rewards for them in heaven.

The greatest reward is to be with God at last.

Jesus promised those who follow Him that He is going to prepare a place for them in heaven so that they may be where He is (John 14:1-2). This implies that one day, you will be at Jesus’ feet and there will be no more sorrow or pain.

Does it truly pay to follow Jesus? What do you tend to gain by following Him wholeheartedly?

If you are asking God these questions, you are not the first nor would you be the last. Great men like Abraham has asked God similar question.

In Genesis 15 verse 2, the Bible recorded that Abraham asked God, “Lord GOD, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus?”

Genesis 15:2 KJV

Many follow the Lord today because of what they would gain from Him. They fixate their eyes on the material blessings that they can get from following Jesus. This is only half true, even though God’s will is to bless and prosper His children, following Christ may also come with the low season of nothingness.

In our reading of the day, the Bible told us of a man who wanted to follow Jesus and how the Lord gave him a simple picture of nothingness. Even though He was the Son of God, Jesus Christ had no place to lay his head. He was not hanging out at a swanky hotel and catching fun.

Do you know that Jesus may ask you to sell something as part of the cost of following Him? The Bible says that you no longer belong to yourself because you have been bought with a price.

Contrary to everything you might have heard from modern teachers and preachers, nothing is off the limit when it comes to giving up something to follow Jesus.

The Lord said in Matthew 16:25 that anyone who loves his life will lose it, but those who lose their lives for His sake will gain it again. Let this sink in, following Christ will require you to take up your cross and follow Him.

The cross is a symbol of death, and for you to truly live for Christ, certain things must die off. Old passions and desires must all be laid at the cross and allowed to die.

Everything has a cost – for every value derived from any goods or services, there is a prize paid. Likewise following the Lord Jesus will cost you something. Although we live in a Christian society that tries to erase this truth but cannot. The reason why many derail on their Christian journey is a lack of proper evaluation of the cost of following Christ.

It all boils down to asking serious questions like: “Is Jesus really worth it? Can I risk all for Him? Can I stake my all on Him? And many other questions.

The business of the dead is to bury the dead, but those who are alive in Christ are bid to follow Him in bringing other souls into the kingdom (Luke 9:59-60).

Your living will only be purposeful in the agenda of heaven if you are setting forward the kingdom’s values.

When a soul is saved, that fellow wants to go tell everyone about it. Saved souls are great soul winners at conversation. That was what happened to the madman of Gadarenes in Mark 5. Immediately after he got saved, He went all out to tell everyone.

Have you ever been on fire for God and zealous for the things of God but suddenly you have grown weary and lukewarm? Can you point to a time in your life when you study the Bible and prays for hours but now you lack stints? If you are such a fellow, then you need revival.

What it means is that your spiritual fire, hunger and thirst have gone out. You need to cry to God for an awakening. This must be a plea with great agony knowing that you have lost something valuable that only God can restore to you.

Today’s message is a warning to us believers to be careful of men who call themselves shepherds but are mere hirelings. Are you aware that many are out there in ministry just because of what they would eat? Such are those who always want to get from the sheep and not feed them. They will milk money off the sheep all in the name of strange offerings,  beware!