Jesus taught throughout his ministry that delay in following him was sin. Many who heard Jesus' teaching and witnessed his miracles responded with "I will follow you ... wherever you go." Yet we see in this text that Jesus would often respond with 'Are you sure?' ... 'Do you know what you are agreeing to in following the Son of Man?'
The truth of the heart will always reveal itself when Jesus speaks to us. Far too often we declare that we will follow Jesus ... with a caveat. "I will follow you Jesus ... but ...."
Jesus will reveal any hint of delay in our spirit that would hinder full faithfulness to the Savior. Following Jesus means following him to the end ... suffering and death on the Cross. The genuine Christian life is one of difficulty and abusive opposition and the declaration to follow means following to death.
