What Does It Cost?

It did not take you very long in life to learn that when you buy something, the cost of the item most of the time, is indicative of the quality of the product.  The more expensive items usually are the higher quality items.

What is true in the material world is also true in the spiritual world too.  Spiritually speaking, the spiritual blessings on earth and rewards in heaven seem to be proportional to the pain and heartache on earth required to obtain them.  Christian growth does not come easy; biblical choices must come before worldly pleasures and personal ambitions.  Daily Bible reading/study time only occurs if you make it a priority in your life.  Without daily time in the Scriptures your spiritual life is mediocre at best.

Your goal is to get to heaven and hear the Lord Jesus tell you, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”  To hear those words requires you to not do some of the things that you want to do, and do some things that are inconvenient.  That great missionary to China, J. Hudson Taylor, puts it this way, “If it is true in anything, it is especially true of divine things, that what costs little is worth little.”  Stop putting off that tug of the Holy Spirit prompting you in that area that you have resisted.  The time to yield to Him is now.

This principle is seen so clearly in none other than Jesus Christ.  Scripture in Hebrews 12:2 vividly illustrates this, “fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”  Notice, yes Jesus died on a cross where He was “despising the shame” of such a cruel and humiliating death.  That “shame” also could be seen in the lives of the Pharisees and religious leaders of His day hating Him and eventually killing Him.  Jesus was willing to go through all that “shame” because He had one goal in mind during His earthly pilgrimage—to one day sit “down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

Remember, “that which costs little is worth little.”  Quietly sit before the Lord and let Him tell you exactly what He wants you to do, then do it with your whole heart, soul, and mind.  Living a life pleasing to the Lord Jesus is really the only way to live.