Have you ever sat down and counted what your faith costs?
Hi, I'm Joni Eareckson Tada and I do it all the time. When I smile, when I have a great day, when my disability is not a big deal, when things are looking up; it’s at times like these I count what it costs to experience that kind of joy. And you know what I’ve found? The answer is short, simple, and painful. "It costs you everything."
It's not the answer most of us expect. It's not what the rich young ruler expected. Jesus told the young man that if he wanted to experience God's joy, he’d have to go out and sell everything he had, give the money to the poor, and follow Jesus as Lord. The young man could not bear that cost. And so he walked away the loser.
Most of us trifle with the cost of Christianity. We don’t think about it. We don’t meditate or wonder about it. We take the joy and the blessings for granted… the great days, the easy times. We forget or, worse yet, we stop caring about the cost. We slap our sins on the table and, for the price of Somebody else’s blood, happily walk away with an asbestos-lined soul and a title deed to heaven. With “eternity” taken care of, we get back to living life as usual, offering the obligatory gestures to God on Sundays and holidays.
But God doesn’t let us get away with that. Jesus said in Matthew 10, “Anyone who does not take His cross and follow Me is not worthy of Me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.” Friend, what was true for the rich young ruler, is true for us. God is constantly reminding us of what it costs to be a follower of Christ. And it hurts.
I want you to be the kind of Christian who counts the cost daily. Really. I want you to humbly remember the words of Jesus in Matthew 10. I don’t want you to package truth in platitudes. As your Christian friend, I don’t want you to ever speak about suffering – or about God – in trivial tones. No. Rather, as your friend I want you to be able to share hard-fought-for wisdom that’s been sifted through your suffering, like grain gleaned from a thresher. I want you to see that pain is a bruising of a blessing; but it’s a blessing, nonetheless. It is a strange, dark companion; but still, it’s a companion. Difficulties should drive you deeper into the fellowship of sharing in Christ’s afflictions, and closer to that place of intimacy with Jesus that is sweeter than words can describe. As someone once wrote, I would like you to receive pain as from the left hand of God. Because the left one is better than no hand at all. Much better.
You know… I share a little bit about this in a booklet I wrote called Winter Always Gives Way to Spring -- it’s kind of an appropriate title for this time of year, don’t you think? And you can get your copy by visiting my radio page today at joniandfriendsradio.org or you can get a copy Winter Always Gives Way to Spring by calling 1-888-522-5664 -- through reading Winter Always Gives Way to Spring, you will discover the blessed cost of following the Savior. Because the horizon is bright and beautiful. More beautiful than anything you could imagine. So welcome to the club. Welcome to counting the cost of your heaven-sent joy. And don’t forget, let me hear from you today… and feel free to post your comments on my radio page – I’d love to hear your thoughts on the cost of following Christ, okay? Okay. I look forward to hearing from you. And again, just contact me at joniandfriendsradio.org.
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