The Cost of Saying Yes to God

A young woman in Lagos sits in her office, her supervisor’s words still ringing in her ears: ‘If you won’t join us in this scheme, you’ll never be promoted.’ She has worked faithfully for five years. Her colleagues are thriving under the arrangement. Her salary is modest. Her children need better schooling. The choice seems clear to the world—compromise a little, gain much. But her heart whispers otherwise.

This is the language of costly obedience that every believer must learn to speak.

Jesus does not promise that following Him will be convenient or profitable by worldly measure. He says plainly: ‘If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.’ The cross was an instrument of death. To carry it daily means to die—not once, but continually—to our own ambitions, our comfort, our reputation, and our ease.

The paradox Jesus teaches is stunning: ‘Whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it.’ The world tells us to grasp, to secure, to protect ourselves at all costs. But Christ inverts this logic. When we surrender what we treasure most—our future, our security, our dignity—we actually preserve our souls. We gain what truly matters: eternal life and the Father’s approval.

Consider the cost that surrounded the early disciples. Peter and John were commanded by the Sanhedrin never to speak in the name of Jesus. Their response? ‘Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye’ (Acts 4:19). They chose obedience to God over safety. They were beaten. Yet they rejoiced that they were counted worthy to suffer for His name.

Or think of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego facing the fiery furnace. They would not bow to Nebuchadnezzar’s image, though the cost seemed certain death. Their faith was not in rescue—though God provided it—but in the God they served: ‘Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king’ (Daniel 3:17).

The lady in Lagos faces her own furnace. Her obedience may cost her that promotion. It may mean slower advancement, smaller income, harder years ahead. But it will preserve her integrity, her witness, and most importantly, her standing before God. She will have walked with Jesus, taken up her cross, and chosen the eternal over the temporal.

What has God called you to do that carries real cost? A business decision that requires honesty over profit? A conversation that demands truth over comfort? A lifestyle choice that means saying no to what everyone else is saying yes to?

Lord, give me courage today to deny myself and follow You, whatever the price.