COUNT THE COST & DON'T LOOK BACK

57 Now it happened as they journeyed on the road, that someone said to Him, "Lord, I will follow You wherever You go."
58 And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head."
59 Then He said to another, "Follow Me." But he said, "Lord, let me first go and bury my father."
60 Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead, but go you and preach the kingdom of God."
61 And another also said, "Lord, I will follow You, but let me first go and bid them farewell who are at my house."
62 But Jesus said to him, "No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God." (LUKE 9:57-62).


9:57, 58 I will follow you: This man volunteered to follow Jesus without reservation. His problem was that he had not realistically counted the cost of discipleship. His enthusiasm, based on his feelings of the moment, would not be strong enough to sustain him during the trials that lay ahead. Jesus warned the would-be disciple that He, the Son of Man, did not have even the ordinary comforts of home.


9:59 let me first go and bury my father: This aspiring disciple placed family responsibilities ahead of following Jesus. The concerns of home were this man's stumbling block. Unlike the previous volunteer (v. 57), this man was slow, meditative, and contemplative. He was counting the cost of discipleship. Cultic purity was viewed as very important in Jewish circles, so a quick burial of the dead was required (7:11-17).


9:60 Jesus emphasized that a disciple must have clear priorities. The call of God should receive priority over everything else.


9:62 Jesus' remark about being fit for the kingdom of God demonstrates the seriousness of commitment to Him. Putting a hand to the plow means engaging in a task. Here the task is serving the kingdom. Looking back makes it difficult to plow straight furrows.
[THE NKJV STUDY BIBLE Second Edition].


[http://twitter.com/SowersOfTheWord].


JESUS IS LORD. 

FIGHT THE GOOD FIGHT, FINISH THE RACE & KEEP THE FAITH

7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.
8 Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who loved His appearing. 
(Read: 2 TIMOTHY 4:6-8).


7 There are two ways of interpreting this verse. One is to assume that we have here three figures of speech: the first military, the second athletic, the third religious. But the three clauses of the verse may all be taken as related to athletics. The verb translated "fought" can have a military meaning (cf. Jn 18:36), but it can just as clearly relate to athletics (1 Cor 9:25). All in all, it seems more natural to understand Paul as speaking in the athletic sense in all of them (cf. especially 1 Tim 6:12). If so, the we can paraphrase the verse like this: "I have competed well in the athletic contest [of life], I have finished the race, I have kept the rules"-not "fouled out" and so been disqualified from winning.


8 One of the main reasons for preferring the athletic interpretation in v.7 is that it fits in perfectly with v.8, where Paul says a "crown" awaits him. The word for "crown" is not the one used for a royal crown but for the laurel wreath that was given to the winner of the Marathon race (cf. 1 Cor 9:25). The Lord, the righteous Judge (of the contest) was ready to "award" this prize to Paul at the end of the race, his victorious life. The same reward awaits all who run the Christian race successfully to the finish and long for "his appearing" (the Second Coming). 
[NIV BIBLE COMMENTARY Volume 2: New Testament].


[http://twitter.com/SowersOfTheWord]. 


JESUS IS LORD.

RUN YOUR RACE TO WIN THE PRIZE

24 Do you not know that in a race all the runners compete, but [only] one receives the prize? So run [your race] that you may lay hold [of the prize] and make it yours.
25 Now every athlete who goes into training conducts himself temperately and restricts himself in all things. They do it to win a wreath that will soon wither, but we [do it to receive a crown of eternal blessedness] that cannot wither.
26 Therefore I do not run uncertainly-without definite aim. I do not box as one beating the air and striking without an adversary.
27 But [like a boxer] I buffet my body-handle it roughly, discipline it by hardships-and subdue it,  for fear that after proclaiming to others the Gospel and things pertaining to it, I myself should become unfit-not stand the test and be unapproved-and rejected [as counterfeit]. (1 CORINTHIANS 9:24-27).


24-27 By way of practical application, Paul now gives a strong exhortation for Christian self-denial, using himself as an example and employing athletic figures familiar to the Corinthians at their own Isthmian athletic games, hosted every other year by the people of Corinth. The particular events he refers to are running and boxing.
         Paul assumes their common knowledge of the foot race in the stadium (v.25). Every one of the Corinthian believers should run as these runners do, with an all-out effort to get the prize. "Strict training" refers to the athlete's self-control in diet and in his rigorous bodily discipline. Paul observes that the athlete's train vigorously for a "corruptible crown"-a laurel or celery wreath that would soon wither away. But the Christian's crown, eternal life and fellowship with God, will last forever (Rev. 2:10).
        Paul says of himself that he does not contend like an undisciplined runner or boxer. Rather, he aims his blows against his own body, beating it black and blue. The picture is graphic: the ancient boxers devastatingly punishing one another with knuckles bound with leather thongs. So, by pummeling his body, Paul enslaves it in order to gain the Christian prize.
        In the Greek games, there was a herald who announced the rules of the contest; but Paul is not only a Christian herald (i.e, preacher), he is also one who plays in the game. That is, he not only preached the Gospel but he also lived by the Gospel's rules. True Christians, while confident of God's sovereign grace, are nevertheless conscious of their own battle against sin. They do not want to be "disqualified [i.e., tested and disapproved] for the prize."
[NIV BIBLE COMMENTARY Volume 2: New Testament].


[http://twitter.com/SowersOfTheWord].


JESUS IS LORD.