Count the Cost

At such a cost our freedom was garnered... this a cost we could not pay.

Nothing we have could be offered for our own redemption... yet this is a bill that must be paid.

God demands an accounting for the life He gave... and each sin adds to a debt that never stops increasing.

So how??? How do we pay a debt we have absolutely no means of paying?

That's easy... Jesus paid it all.

And yet... is it really that easy?

Out of love God sent His only begotten Son. Out of love Jesus came to be born of a woman. Out of love He came and bore the reality of the human life... pain, loneliness, humiliation... hunger, fatigue, distress... abandonment, separation, and death... even the death of the cross (Philippians 2:8). Out of love Jesus walked this earth searching for those who would believe and follow. Out of love He rose again in victory over death, so that through His death and resurrection we too could share in His victory.

So again I ask... is it really that easy? Simply put... No.

Why would we think it would be? It seems far too many of us who claim Christ, to one degree or another, live in a way that takes the sacrifice of our Savior for granted. I know this firsthand since I used to be one of them... and at times still may be. The question is why? Why do so many continue to take Him for granted? Why do so many continue to take the steep cost for granted?

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (NLT)

¹⁹ Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, ²⁰ for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.

I lived many years of my life claiming to be a Christian... and yet I never knew what that meant. I never knew... or better put... I never understood what my redemption cost. The high price that was paid for the forgiveness I received... the cleansing, restoration, and salvation I received. I didn't know or understand because I didn't want to know or understand. Something in me knew I would have to change... and that I would have to give up some things if I was to live a life of faith. I wasn't willing. Sadly... I wasn't willing. But thanks be to God... He is patient.

Now, after almost four and a half years of learning, walking this life of faith, and having my eyes opened to the cost, I am now beginning to understand... although I will never fully know or comprehend it all. Jesus paid the ultimate cost. It was a debt He did not owe that He paid for all of us who had a debt we could not pay. And what do we do in response to this??? What do we do to show our gratitude? How do we respond to the ultimate act of grace? Do we believe... yes. Do we go to church... yes. Do we allow God to change us... yes, to a degree. Do we count the cost... sadly I think for most Christians the answer is no. My answer was no for a large majority of my life.

But what I am speaking about here is not counting the cost of the sacrifice of Jesus. That is something we can never know. We can never truly know the cost of God the Father sending His Son. We can never know the cost of the Son laying down His life. We can never know what it cost Him. But what I am speaking about hear is something we can know. Something we should know. And that is the cost of following Him. What will it cost us is the question. I hope that many, if not most Christians have come to grips with the fact that Jesus had to die in order for us to be saved. I hope that we as a body of believers have deep gratitude that goes beyond words for what our Savior has done for us. What I don't know, and what I am trying to get at hear is do we understand that His cost will lead to our cost?

Following Jesus will cost you something. Following Jesus should cost you something. Following Jesus through the veil and in through the narrow gates of heaven should cost us all we have... but it doesn't. My question is... would we be willing to give it?

This past Sunday as I sat in church and we sang songs worshiping our God and Savior this really started to sink in for me. One of those songs was by Jared Anderson called "Pleasing to You." Some of the lyrics go like this...

"I give my life, my all
Taking the cross I will follow
Jesus my heart must know
I'm pleasing to You

Sanctify me
You are the light to guide me
To the place where I am
Only if pleasing to You"

Do we give our lives to Him... do we give our all?

Do we give all we have to give for the honor of knowing Jesus Christ?

Do we allow Him to take us to a place where we will be pleasing to Him?

Another song was called "I Give Myself Away" by William McDowell, and some of the lyrics go like this...

"Take my heart
Take my life
As a living sacrifice
All my dreams, all my plans
Lord I place them in your hands

My life is not my own
To you I belong
I give myself, I give myself to You

I give myself away
I give myself away
So You can use me"

Do we offer up our heart... what we love, enjoy, watch, listen to, partake in... and our lives?

Do we present ourselves as a living sacrifice to our God?

Do we realize that our life is not our own... but that we belong to Him?

Another song was "Refiner's Fire" by Brian Doerksen and the lyrics go like this...

"My heart's one desire
Is to be holy
Set apart for You, Lord
I choose to be holy
Set apart for You, my Master
Ready to do Your will
Purify my heart
Cleanse me from within
And make me holy"

Do we have the desire to be holy? To be set apart for Him? To stand out as children of the Light?

Do we choose to be holy as He is Holy... or do we choose to live as the world does, unwilling to give up the things we used to do, desire to do in the flesh, or cling to as we long to be in control?

Do we allow Him to purify our hearts? And do we realize that we hamper the cleansing of our hearts by holding on to the trash the world has to offer?

And yet another song was "Overtaken" by Gateway Worship and the lyrics go like this...

"CHORUS
God, You're taking over all of me, I'm letting go so
You can come and have Your way in me
I leave it all behind me 'cause Jesus saved my life
Now every day I worship You, my King

VERSE 2

Jesus Christ, I thank You for the love You've
Given me, though I deserve nothing
Everything I have, I owe it all to You
Nothing that this world has got to offer
Satisfies my soul, I still hunger
Pouring out my heart, I'm filling up with You"

Do we let go? Truly let go of what this world has to offer?

Or do we cling? Cling to the temporal pleasures that take away from our offering to the Lord?

Do we realize that we don't deserve anything and that all we have is due to Him and through Him?

Do we recognize that nothing this world has to offer can satisfy us?

If we answered yes to any and all of these questions... then why?

Why do we still do the things we ought not to do, and fail to do the things we ought to do? (See Romans 7:13-25)

As I thought about this today and I remembered that this is a blog I started to write way back in March of 2011, I also remembered why I never got around to doing it. People don't like to hear messages like this. But again I turned my thoughts towards the music we sing in churches and one imparticular which is "For the Sake of the Call" by Steven Curtis Chapman and the lyrics go like this...

"Nobody stood and applauded them
So they knew from the start
This road would not lead to fame
All they really knew for sure was Jesus had called to them
He said "Come follow me" and they came
With reckless abandon they came

Empty nets lying there at the waters edge
Told a story that few could believe and none could explain
How some crazy fishermen agreed to go where Jesus lead
With no thought for what they would gain
For Jesus had called them by name and they answered

CHORUS
We will abandon it all for the sake of the call
No other reason at all but the sake of the call
Wholly devoted to live and to die
For the sake of the call"

Are we certain we have heard the voice of our Lord? If so why don't we follow?

Why don't we also follow with reckless abandon?

Do we wonder about what we will gain? Or worry more over what we will have to give up?

Will we abandon it all for the sake of the call? For no other reason than that Jesus is worth it?

I wonder that when we pass on if this song will be sung for us? For how many of us will it be sung?

In Luke's gospel Jesus tells a couple of parables that pertain to counting the cost because it will cost us to follow Him.

Luke 14:28-30 (NKJV)

²⁸ For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it— ²⁹ lest, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, ³⁰ saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish’?

³¹ Or what king, going to make war against another king, does not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? ³² Or else, while the other is still a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks conditions of peace.

We are to count the cost. We are to consider if we are able. We have a choice in the matter. But it isn't really a choice. The disciples left all behind to follow Jesus and all but John lost their life in persecution. While we may not be asked to do that... why we may not be asked to forsake all like they did... why we may not lose our lives to persecution... Jesus is looking for those who would be willing. Are you willing? It is obvious that most of us would say yes to that question... but would we mean it?

Most seem unwilling to forsake their Lady Gaga cd's, Eminem cd's, and TV shows like Family Guy that blaspheme Christ as they portray Him as a cigarette smoking, alcohol drinking pimp in one of their episodes. Yet we watch shows like that. We watch shows and movies with murder, sex, and cursing
and then go and bless the Lord in our church services. We listen to music that is all about sex, violence, guns, money, drugs and then go and bless the Lord is our churches. We rationalize this by saying things like " I am an adult I can handle it," or "it's only a movie, TV show, or song."

We are unwilling to part with ungodly friendships and relationships thinking just because Jesus ate with sinners its ok for us to surround ourselves with them too. Haven't you read or heard that...

1 Corinthians 15:33 (NIV)

³³ Do not be misled: “Bad company corrupts good character.”^[

Jesus would also say some other things that always made me nervous about making sure I was willing. He would say that...

Luke 9:62 (NIV)

⁶² Jesus replied, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”

and...

Luke 14:25-27 (NKJV)

²⁵ Now great multitudes went with Him. And He turned and said to them, ²⁶ “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. ²⁷ And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.

Some may wonder what bearing one's cross and following Jesus has to do with entertainment. Some may wonder why I write this stuff. I guess my point is that if we are not willing to even change our choices of entertainment which allow trash into our minds and stunt our growth as Christians... what are we willing to give up for the sake of the call??? If are not making the choice to listen to, and watch shows that honor Christ instead of blaspheme Him or praise the world instead of Him... is our walk pure? Or is it corrupted by what we allow our eyes and ears to feast on? Is it a big deal? Is it not?

Jesus always said "He who has ears to hear let him hear." I guess I am saying the same thing. But more importantly, he who has the Holy Spirit dwelling within him (or her), should listen to the Holy Spirit and make choices that will honor God and not mock Him. We should make choices that will grow our faith, allow Him to change us by them, and help us along the way. Even if they are tough choices about how we entertain ourselves and who we hang out with. If it is just music... just a TV show... just a movie... just a friendship... why can't we let go of it? Why is the honor of knowing Christ and trying to live a life that pleases Him not enough of a reason to leave the world and its things behind?

James 4:4 (NKJV)

⁴ Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

James had a lot of harsh words, but they were truth nonetheless. So we need to make sure we make wise choices. We need to make sure we are willing to put things in their proper place... and for some that may mean the trash. We need to make sure we consider everything that goes along with following Christ. Yes we are saved by grace through faith. Yes His work on the cross was finished. Yes eternal life awaits those who believe. But there will be those crying out "Lord, Lord" and yet they will not enter the Kingdom of heaven. I don't want to be one of them.

Count the cost... and then put that information into action by doing the things that will honor God with your life choices. Even in the little things.

"For the Sake of the Call" by Steven Curtis Chapman

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1sb4RrF9VxI

"Refiner's Fire" by Brian Doerksen

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Y8zP34AhuU

"Pleasing to You" by Jared Anderson

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXHo4CPk9v8

"Overtaken" by Gateway Worship

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxnJFoXVBxY

"I Give Myself Away" by William McDowell

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7ofQmeao9I