When's the last time you counted the cost of doing the right thing? Have you ever really thought about, the time, the effort, the resources, the determination, the strength and the will it takes to keep on the righteous path? Godly men and women rarely think about the cost of the work we are investing in, but I believe that we should take time to reflect on the cost...
The Cost! My goodness the Cost!
To better understand the Cost, maybe we should look at the value of that work, after all the cost of the investment should equal the value of the work or item purchased. Right? Hmm, Cost, Value, Investment, these are more than just concepts, they are much more to those that are good stewards, Right?
Matthew 10: 31Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows...
Luke 12: 7But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows.
These two verse assess the value of a man as being more than many sparrows, for which God cares for every moment of every day. Christ made this illustration to boldly state the obvious, that God loved man beyond any comprehension that simple men can find in their finite minds to consider. VALUE!
My friend, God paid the ultimate price for the people we refer to as the "work".
John 3: 16For God so Loved the world that HE GAVE...
God through His Sovereign will, saw that for His Glory to be seen in all it's majesty, He had to allow the fall in the Garden to lay out His plan to redeem man, and Glorify Him and His Son. As we know the scripture tells us, He paid the ultimate price, He bore a cost far exceeding the value of the work, He spilt His Son's precious blood. He made His only, begotten, loved and adored Son endure the pain of beating, flogging, humiliation, and in the end a physical death of His flesh. In the end all of that paled to the real pain... Jesus, the Christ, the True and Only Son of the Living God, who spent all of Eternity past in the presence of the Pure Light and Love of His Father... Now, to fulfill the Father's plan, He had to endure total and complete separation from His Father, from the Father's Light, and from the Father's Love!
The pain, the cost of that separation is not known by any human, we can not fathom the pain and suffering that Jesus' endured during that time of separation from the Father. There was certainly a cost for that True Redemptive Work at the Cross. Unlike many religions today, I believe that cost of Christ's Crucifixion was complete, finished and resolved. The Cross is empty, the Tomb is empty and the Veil into the most Holies was torn from top to bottom to expose the High Priest. For from that very moment forward to this very day Jesus the Christ has been established as our High Priest, our intecessor and our interpreter. There is NO OTHER, None, noone else, Christ was the 1st and the last, He is the ONLY WAY, Period. If you don't know Him, if you don't have a relationship with Him, you are most definitely LOST.
1st Corinthians 6: 20For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.
1st Corinthians 7: 23Ye are bought with a price; be not ye the servants of men.
1st Peter 3: 4But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.
The Price was greater than all of creation could understand, but The Father offered up His Son to pay the ultimate price, and Jesus willingly went to bare the destructive demand of Sin, and paid the price completely. The Scripture tells us that if you are of the elect, that your name was written in the Lambs Book of Life... If your name is in that precious book, you have another gift of the Father, you have the Holy Spirit living within your heart, bearing witness to your soul of His presence and work in your life. For those of us that refer to His commandment to serve one another and spread the Gospel as work, please take time occassionally to reflect and consider the True Cost of that Work was not our time, efforts, energy, resources or determination... The True Cost was that of Christ's sweat, blood, death, burial, trip to sheol and resurection witnessed by many people and well documented...
He paid the cost that Sin placed on our heads, paid the price to redeem the entire world. Those that have a heart to hear His voice, will heed the call of the Spirit as He beckons us out of the Dark and to the Light of His Mercy, Grace and Righteousness. There is no room in those hearts for anger, conceipt, jelousy, fear, frustration, want or covetousness... The heart that beckons the call, is tender, moldable, conformant, and desires Righteousness and Holiness, always seeking the Face and Heart of God.
John 3: 16For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 17For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
God sent Christ to save the entire world, but the world at large doesn't want this free gift, they would much rather take and hold the riches, and things of this world - that ultimately belong to the Creator. The worldly choice comes with a punitive action by Almighty God, a choice in following the Master of Sin, Lucifer, comes with the price that must be paid. If you don't accept Christ's payment, then you are left to pay it yourself. That payment is your very life, not just your physical life, but the one that will truly follow. That condemnation will condemn you to darkness and seperation from God in a very real place called Hell. A place that is dark, burning like fire, and full of all the evil of the world and all the fallen angels that followed Satan into damnation.
The choice is yours dear friend, take time to reflect and count the cost... Do you really think you can afford to pay that price? Believer, have you counted the Cost paid, and how it should impact your work for the Lord, and how you share Him with your friends and neighbors? Time is short, for believer and unbeliever alike, please, please, Count the Cost!
Robert C. Hall
23 August 2011
