Count the Cost

There is a cost to everything we do and our lifestyle choices produce results and consequences. Human ambitions with strategic planning and sustained effort often bring about success and accomplishments. We have to determine the cost of our pursuits to our family life, health and our relationship with God. The relentless pursuit of wealth and fame at any cost can cause some areas of our lives to be affected by our choices. At times our family life can suffer at the cost of economic success and career development. Other times it is our spirituality and relationship with God that is affected by other choices made for success.

Jesus spoke to the multitude about the cost of being a disciple in Luke 14. Jesus spoke of every person being willing to take up their cross and following after him. He said in verse 28, For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Jesus continues that if the man starts the tower and then is unable to finish it, others may mock his attempt to start something he could not finish. Jesus used the parable to show that the decision to follow Christ and to live by his example comes at a cost.

Living a life for Christ determines how we choose to live. We cannot make the same choices that others will make. We have to constantly deny those desires that do not come in alignment with the will of God. We have to consult God about our plans and decisions and be guided by the Holy Spirit.

Choices made for God can at times appear on the surface to be unpopular and not as enticing. But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place. (2 Corinthians 2:14)

Living for God is the best way to live. He leads, he guides and protects. He leads us beside still waters and prepares provision for us. He teaches us to win and to profit and trusting in him guarantees that our plans will prevail. God also gives us the power to gain wealth, so we trust in him and do not lean on our own understanding. Living for God isn’t always the most popular way but it is the best way and it guarantees success.

A.P.-Y.