Count the Cost

Choosing to be a Christian is the easiest, and most difficult, action in the world.  On the one hand, all it requires is making a decision in your heart and saying a prayer.  Romans 10:9 says, “If you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”  It truly is that simple.

…Yes, it is simple, but I should not confuse simple for easy.  Because following Christ is also the most difficult thing I could have ever chosen to do.

Christ demands all of me.  When I declared that “Jesus is my Lord” I willingly submitted my whole life to him.  Every action, every thought is now His to command.  In Mark 12:17, Jesus says to “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.”  When Jesus died to pay the price for my sins, and I chose to accept that sacrifice by giving my life to Christ, I became His and His alone.  My life, my thoughts, my very soul is God’s.  So before making a decision about whether you want this life, or if you are currently contemplating whether this life is worth the sacrifices, I would encourage anyone to count the cost.  Do not be deceived, there are sacrifices to be made and they are not insignificant.  In Mark 13:9, Jesus says that followers of Christ “will be handed over to the local councils and flogged in the synagogues.  On account of me you will stand before governors and kings as witnesses to them.”  Other verses speak about the numerous hardships that Christians will experience.

Yet the sacrifices that God requires of me are not only that I will experience persecution.  Personally, some of the sacrifices he has called me to make are to actively give up my illusion of independence and autonomy.  He has asked me to give up friendships and my pride and security and just recently he asked me to say no (at least for now) to a dream I’ve held dear for the past decade.  And these things are hard, and it hurts, and I don’t always understand.  Following Christ costs me everything.  It costs me my very self.  But following Christ?  It gives me everything and more.

Following Christ has given me hope and joy and an assurance of unconditional love.  It gives me purpose.  I know that I am part of something so much bigger than myself.  Most importantly, I know that I can trust God and His plan.  I don’t always understand, but I know the character of God and I know that He is good and I know that he loves me enough that he died for me.  And so, most of the time (I’m certainly not perfect at it!), I obey.

We sang So Will I by Hillsong United at church this week, and that song has resonated with me over the past few days.  That song, like my walk with God, is all about choice.  It has always been my choice.  God will never force me to follow him, or to obey him.  But it is all about natural consequences (oh, how my high school loved that phrase!).  I cannot receive the rewards of obedience without the act of obedience.  And so I choose.  If creation sings your praises so will I.  If creation still obeys you so will I.  If the stars were made to worship so will I. 

I honestly can’t explain it.  To someone on the outside I must seem certifiably insane.  But all I can say is that once you’ve had the experience of being close to God, you understand. It is something I could never bear to lose.  And every time I choose to obey, God proves himself to be faithful.  No matter what I give up, it is never as amazing as what he has in store for me.  It is never as amazing as just being with Him.

Let me let you in on a little secret: the true reward of Christianity isn’t heaven, it’s God.  It isn’t living forever; it’s being with Jesus.  And I wouldn’t change that for anything.

Every time God asks me to give something up, a part of me asks, is it worth it?  Is He worth it?  For me, the answer has always been yes, and it always will be.