The Real Jesus - It Will Cost You

I looked for a motorcycle today.  I have my mind set on the BMW GS model bike.  That is their dual-sport model which means you can take it off road and do some great exploring.  The GS is all about how dirty you can get it, not how shiny you can keep it!  I like the idea of having a motorcycle again.  I’ve had a number of them and they have been a totally selfish thing for me to have.  Oh, but are they fun!  And it feels so great to zip around mountain roads feeling the world around you and taking in the subtle smells.  If you have ever done the motorcycle thing, you know exactly what I’m talking about.  Motorcycles are like emotional candy to me – so good and so fun.

            I like the idea of having a motorcycle but I’m not going to get one.  I don’t have the money to buy the one I would want.  There’s nothing like a little sticker shock to bring reality back in the picture!  Everything we want in life has a cost associated with it.  Whether we get it or not all depends upon whether we are willing to pay the price.

            We make these decisions about what we are willing to pay every day.  Sometimes these decisions keep us out of trouble.  If we are tempted to speed, we calculate if we are willing to pay the cost of a ticket, and we slow down.  We calculate how much it is going to cost to love our spouse or our kids and make a decision about whether we are going to pay the price.  Everything has a cost.  What are you willing to pay?

            Jesus understands this very, very well.  The story of faith the Bible tells says, because of sin, we are held captive.  We are in prison, “…having no hope and without God in the world.” (Ephesians 2:12)  Not a pretty picture.  The desire is for freedom.  Freedom comes at a price though.  The Bible’s story says the price of freedom is death.  So, Jesus said he would pay that price, came to earth, died on a cross and was resurrected to life.  Not so he could be set free, but so we could be set free.  What a cost!  And then he says to us, “Come, follow me.” 

Photo: Tal Cohen

            A lot of people like the idea of Jesus.  We like the idea of being free, no longer captive in our sin.  But then we look at the cost and walk away.  Jesus said the cost of following Jesus is to believe and receive.  What’s so costly about that? 

            There is something within us that knows to believe and receive Jesus means to die to ourselves.  To receive Jesus means we have to make room for him so something has to go.  To believe means we have to make room for how Jesus defines life, love, death and hope.  To believe in Jesus means other beliefs have to go.

            Everything has a cost.  What are you willing to pay?  Jesus says, “Come, follow me.”  What are you willing to pay?  It will cost everything.

Grace and Peace,

David

“I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat is planted in the soil and dies, it remains alone. But its death will produce many new kernels—a plentiful harvest of new lives. Those who love their life in this world will lose it. Those who care nothing for their life in this world will keep it for eternity.” (John 12:24–25, NLT)