Unshackled Moments ~ November 21 ~ Too High A Cost

Sometimes we get upset and tempted to rebel when we realize that to walk with God means  total and complete surrender, relationship with God demands everything that we have and are, for that matter were and had and will be and will have should be in there too. Salvation is a free gift that will cost you everything. Giving up everything is a cost that doesn't come close to paying for what it's worth, or earning it or deserving it, but it is a cost. There's a reason why Jesus said count the cost before accepting this free gift. And we can balk at that. We can get upset. What? Give up EVERYTHING? But what about my free time, what about...hey I worked hard for this money and how dare God take my loved one before I was ready! Basically we'd feel a lot better about what it means to truly serve God if we erased the words my and mine from our vocabulary and memory.

And that's the point where a lot of people drift away back to the old life. They go back to fishing for fish rather than fishing for people. They say I can't commit to that! It costs too much! But there's nothing new about what we worship costing us everything. Every idol demands it all. If we idolize power and money it will take all our time, the drive will consume our life and all we are. It will control how we treat others, stepping over people or sacrificing them in the name of work, advancement, financial security, etc. Alcohol and drugs, when used to try to fill the God shaped hole in our life, will consume everything, eventually even our very life. When we try to fill God's space with people, then their attention, pleasing them, needing them, becomes our all in all and drives everything that we do. Sex? No better results. Food can make you miserable pretty quickly when you'r tying to meet more than physical need with it. No matter what we try to fill the empty place meant to hold our relationship with our Creator will cost. And it will all fail and fall short. When it's all said and done, we'll be even more empty than when we started.

So it's unrealistic to believe Jesus would ask for less. He's not some cheap substitute! He's the piece that actually fits the hole in the puzzle of our life. He doesn't have to be forced in. He completes the picture, and He never fails or falls short or out. It's only logical that the right  answer costs more than the ones that only get partial credit and are ultimately wrong. But Jesus is different than those other things in another way than just being the only One that fits that space correctly. Unlike anyone or anything we have ever tried to fill God's place in our lives with, only Jesus gave up everything for us first. After a ministry of total and complete service, He gave up His very life. Now He spends His time interceding, fighting for us in order to provide us power and refuge from the troubles of life due to the curse of this existence against which we have no resources or ability to rescue ourselves.

The idea of being able to go through life on the power of our own will without cost is a ridiculous illusion. Even the god of self will and self rule demands the same price of everything. It's not a question of if we'll give up everything. We will. The question is will we give up everything to Jesus, knowing that He gives more than we can ever give in return or will we give up everything to something that will temporarily let us keep our illusions that we own our life before it takes everything and leaves us empty and broken and destroyed? Jesus is my choice. He is worth the cost and more. Nothing else I've tried has come close to being worth the cost. After all, you get what you pay for, right? Yes, Jesus is my choice. Is He yours?

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