Jesus never glossed over the truth when it came to counting the cost of being His disciple, and in John 16:1-11, on His way to the garden of Gethsemene with His disciples, He once again restates that living as one of His disciples will come with a cost. Rather than shatter the disciples faith, the hostility they faced would actually deepened and strengthened their resolve as they saw the Lord’s prediction fulfilled. For us today, we need to understand that following Christ, comes at a cost. Contrary to some popular teachings in our day, Jesus does not promise those who follow Him wealth, health, or material advancement. Quite the contrary, He seems to indicate that many will suffer all types of difficulties in this life. These difficulties are allowed in order to cause us to reflect on the promises of God for eternity. While we may struggle in this life (which compared to eternity is short), we have the promises of God’s Word that our true comfort is entering into the presence of God. May our goal be to hear one day, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant, enter into my rest!”