Our blessed Lord presses the issue. Do you or do you not want to be my disciple? If you do not, then it is with great sadness that your Savior must move on with those who are willing to fully commit themselves.

In our lives, each and every one of us receives Christ’s invitation of discipline and abandonment of the world. No longer are we getting acquainted. We are being asked to come into a relationship at once glorious and painful. Yes, it comes to all of us — sooner or later.

It is like moving from an introductory offer, which we explore, and then deciding whether or not to buy into the entire program. There is a host of witnesses that function, I like to think, like a cheerleading team. They want us and plead with you and me to come into the most blessed fold of all.

There is nothing…