Cost And Blessing

Cost and Blessing

Read: Mark 8:34-38

“If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.”

Mark 8:34

“The only life that counts is the life that costs.”

—Frederick P. Wood

IN WORD There are two extremes we often take in our obedience to God: We can try to follow Him without any cost involved at all; or we can assume that God’s will always contradicts ours and is a heavy, dreadful price to pay. These are unbalanced views—neither is accurate. Sometimes our will coincides with God’s; sometimes it doesn’t. The walk of discipleship—the self-denial Jesus calls for in this verse—is a matter of discerning the difference and seeking His will in all things. It does not mean there will be no cost; and it does not mean there will be no joy. Following Jesus involves both.

When we are pursuing God’s will, we must know that it inevitably involves sacrifice. We may want to be obedient and follow Him without price, but that is not God’s way. May we never offer Him anything that costs us nothing. If we do, it’s not a genuine offering. It’s low-value surplus.

No, following Him means making the hard choices that we know to be His will, even when they conflict with our own plans. But it does not mean there is no blessing or joy in the sacrifices. God’s way always brings blessing— perhaps not by our definition of blessing, but His is the only true definition anyway. God has never asked of us more than He gives.

IN DEED If you believe you are walking as a disciple, and there seems to be no sacrifice in your discipleship, check again. Somewhere, you are missing His voice. Don’t go to the other extreme, however, and expect all of discipleship to be drudgery and pain, and for there to be no joy in it. Quite the contrary. There is incredible joy in it, and very little is drudgery. But there is still some element of cost—always. God accepts only the best of our flocks and the first of our fruits. That means that, as living sacrifices (Romans 12:1), our offerings will cost us dearly—the very best of who we are. They also bring us blessing—the very best of who He is.