Considering the Cost

"Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it?" -Luke 14:28
 
If you've ever tried to do something great, you'll know it has a huge cost. Anytime we attempt to accomplish something more than most people will, we'll experience more roadblocks than most people. The question is are we willing to make the sacrifices to do that may be such a challenge? We may discover that when we do, the payoff is much greater than we could ever imagine.

If you want a fit body, there's a cost. It probably involves a LOT of working out. It probably also involves making sacrifices in the type of food you eat. If you want to grow a business, it will cost you time - a LOT of time. If you want an amazing family, it will cost you time, effort, money, blood, sweat, and tears (literally). If you've already made the commitment, for any of those things, then it has become responsibility. But, everyday, we still choose whether to endure the cost and reap the benefit, or to disengage ourselves from the task at hand and become mediocre at what we're doing. It's a "heart-thing".

Jesus' calling had a cost - His life. Sometimes we'll do something that enlivens us -that gives us hope for the future and brings meaning to our lives. We'll discover where we fit, where we belong. We'll discover where our gifts and talents can be multiplied to affect the lives of others for good. When we discover any of those things, we'll know for sure the cost was worth the sacrifice.

Sometimes this sacrifice requires us to die to ourselves, to our own desires. It may require us to overcome our fears. It most probably requires us to lay down our lives at the foot of the cross, saying, "God, use me for whatever purpose you may have for my life." It involves submission. But, once we're willing to do this, we'll experience life to the greatest extent we've ever known. "I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." (John 10:10)

Are you willing to endure the cost for what you feel God calling you to? I pray we'll all be able to endure the cost, whatever it may be, to grow God's kingdom for the good of this world.

Laying Our Lives Down for Others

And He was withdrawn from them about a stone's throw, and He knelt down and prayed, saying, "Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done." (Luke 22:42 NKJV)

 

Have you ever had difficult defining moments in your life, when you just did not want to do something, but you knew it was essential for the fulfillment of God's purposes in your life?

At the beginning of our walk, it might mean laying down addictions or detrimental behaviors at the foot of the cross. As we progress, it may mean standing up to fallacious mindsets or overcoming our fear of man. We might experience this when we decide to share the gospel with someone, or to step out of our comfort zone doing things we are afraid to do.

Just as a husband lays down his life for his bride in a marriage, Jesus laid down His life for His bride.  As Christians we are to lay down our lives for others, so that they might experience the life of Christ more fully. 

This doesn't necessarily mean we do anything and everything others want us to.  It means submitting to godly leadership, yes.  But it means hearing the voice of God in our lives, receiving His instruction, and doing it. "But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it - not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it - they will be blessed in what they do."  -James 1:25   It means making sacrifices and being uncomfortable so that others can experience life. 

John Maxwell said, "If we are growing we are always going to be outside our comfort zone." In fact, if we aren't experiencing some discomfort in our calling, it's likely we aren't very threatening to the kingdom of darkness.  

As Christians, we are responsible to serve and lay down our lives for those we are called to touch.  Are you willing to lay down your life?

The Cost of the Cross

"Then he said to them all: 'Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.'" -Luke 9:23
 
Have you ever paid a lot for something you really wanted? When I was a teenager, I saved up enough money to buy 1/2 of my first car. I really wanted the car, but more than that, I wanted what the car represented: Freedom! As a teenager, I was desperate to get out of the house. I knew that getting a car would afford me this. And so, I was willing to pay the price for that freedom.

We hear a lot about Jesus paying the price for our sins. Being a genuine Christian isn't about works, but we can often get caught up in this battle, because it says, "Faith without works is dead." (James 2:20) They tell us to not drink and not smoke and hang out with the right crowd. But sooner or later, this list of "do's" and "don'ts" becomes nothing more than a religious ritual if we don't learn to hear God's still small voice and seek the answers for ourselves. As we progress in our faith, the cost of our freedom in Christ becomes more and more subtle. He requires more of us as we mature in our faith. But these subtle sacrifices can greatly change our lives and others' if we can learn to "take up our cross" in following Jesus.

There has been many a leader who started well but did not finish well. Kenneth Lay, former CEO of Enron was a minister's son, and had had a passionate belief in ethics and integrity. What went wrong? Perhaps the cost of the cross became too great. We know we are called to new levels when what was once acceptable behavior now gives us a prick in our spirit, a "check" if you will, of an increased sense of conscience. What once was okay and even right for others is no longer okay for us. These smaller discrepancies in what is right or wrong for us is described in this scripture: "One person's faith allows them to eat anything, but another, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables." -Romans 14:2. This doesn't necessarily have to do with food - it could be our habits, our discipline, the way we relate to others, the letting go of offenses, how we spend our money or time, or the words we speak.

We will find that when decisions or actions bring conviction and we act on that conviction it will bring new levels of freedom. God's intention for us is not to live by mere rule and regulation - He instructs us to live within boundary for our own benefit. And, by doing so, we discover more of His abundant life in the process. "For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God's abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ!" -Romans 5:17
 
Is there anything you feel an increased sense of conscious about? When we are called by Christ, we are given great responsibility. Don't let selfishness take a hold of the freedom that is waiting for you. Take up the cross that God has called you to.