The Matthias Chronicles: Count the Cost

25 And there went great multitudes with him: and he turned, and said unto them, 26 "If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. 27 And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple. 28 For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it? 29 Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him, 30 Saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish. 31 Or what king, going to make war against another king, sitteth not down first, and consulteth whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand? 32 Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sendeth an ambassage, and desireth conditions of peace. 33 So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple. 34 Salt is good: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be seasoned? 35 It is neither fit for the land, nor yet for the dunghill; but men cast it out. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear."

In our every day life, we count the cost of maintaining a home, raising kids, education, medicine and so forth. But the counting of the cost on the most important thing in your life isn't even considered or taken into account. What cost is that? The cost is your eternal soul. Jesus told the multitude of people following Him that if they wanted to be His disciple that they needed to count the cost. He said that compared for their love and devotion to Him, it would practically be as though they hated their own father and mother, brothers and sister, even their own wife and children. If you are to sit and examine yourself, can you truthful say that your love and devotion for Christ comes before that of even your closest and dearest of family? Remember that Jesus said if you don't forsake all that you have, which includes family, you cannot be His disciple. Do not misunderstand what he is saying here. He is telling you that God must come first and foremost in your life. He knows that you have a responsibility to your family, but if you put Him first, all the rest will fall into place. He has to be foremost in your life. In other words you must surrender all to Him in order to be In Him. You have to sit down with the King and let Him tell you His plans for your life and let him be your Salvation, your Guide and your strength.

Forsaking all others: Mark 10:29-31, tells us, And Jesus answered and said, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel's, But he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life. But many that are first shall be last; and the last first. The hardest thing for a human being to do is to leave the earthly things behind and follow the Lord for the things of the kingdom. It is indeed a very heavy price to pay. However, when we do, the rewards or blessings are innumerable. You see, when we surrender all we have and ourselves to him then that which you had will be restored unto you. Job knew that .even though he lost everything and the devil was having his fun destroying that which Job had.....even unto his very health; Job never wavered in his faith and belief in God. OH! He had his moments of sorrow and self-pity, but that still didn't destroy His faith and trust in God. He was counting the cost of His faith and trust in God and still found it worth it all.

Let me tell you this, any true servant or child of God has gone through the very same experiences as Job. Some have passed the test with flying colors, while others have failed. For those that failed, they either remain among the lost or they try again and finally succeed. Each true child or servant of God counts the cost of losing heaven over what they lost here on earth and find that no matter what they have lost here, what they have gained is heaven is worth far more.

We were bought with a price as we see in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20. It says, ...For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's. So our price being paid for warrants us to Glorify God in body and spirit. Let me take you on a little trip that will take us to beyond this earth and back to where it all began and counting the cost began.

We are greeted by one of God's angels, who escorts us into the throne room of God. We are mere bystanders and our thoughts and words must remain silent as we begin to witness the father talking to his beloved son. The Father speaks. Son, you know that I created you with love. You are the first of all my creations and I made you my son. You know that you have been with me from the very beginning when we molded the earth, destroyed it and then replenished the earth after Satan's fall and Noah's ark. Yes, father. Jesus replies. God, then asks His son. You know I would do anything for you, but would you do anything for me? Jesus said, without hesitation, Yes father, I would, because I love you and will obey you always. Well, said God leaning on one arm and rubbing his bearded chin. What I am going to ask you is going to take alot of courage and it the cost will be heavy. In what way, dad? Jesus asked. What is it that you want me to do? he continued. Then God let a tear fall from his eye and trickle down his face. Son, I am going to send you to earth to walk as a man and to tell my children the things they need to know about me and my love for them. They need to know of my mercy and my laws so they can come back home to me. That doesn't sound so bad, Jesus replied, but why the tears? That is not the part that makes the tears fall from my eyes, God replied. Then what does? Jesus asked. God took his son and hugged him and then told him that he love his children so much that the sacrifices for their sin were not enough. I have to prove my love for my children. The only way I can do that is to sacrifice the thing I love most in the universe and that is you. he said sadly. It's ok dad. I understand. Jesus said. I will go and do as you ask. I have seen the pain and sadness in your face as each of your children walk away from you and their required sacrifices have little or no meaning a short time after they are done. They revert back to their sinful ways. You know what that means son? God asked. It means that you will suffer terrible things, you will be mocked and ridiculed and then you will be crucified. I will momentarily abandon you because you will have to bear the weight of all the sins of mankind on that cross. But there is a wonderful part that comes after that. God continues. What's that? Jesus inquired. You will lie in the grave for three days and then I will raise you from the dead. That will fulfill the promise of eternal life that I promise them and you will tell them about eternal life as you teach and tell them before this all takes place. God tells him. You are paying a heavy price for your children's love and obedience. Do you think that they will accept it? Jesus asked. Again God looked sadly at his son and said, Some will and some won't. I gave them free will as I have given you. Those that do will bring me great joy and it will have been worth it all. Are you sure you want to do this? God asked. Father, Jesus replied. You taught me to be obedient in all things and I will obey you in this no matter the cost to me, for without you, I, too am nothing. You created me out of love and I love you and will do anything you ask of me. I will miss you, but I know that I will be back here again. Don't be sad father. It is something that must be done and if it means that I become the only means to getting your children back home to you with righteousness, then it is what i will do. I will become the sacrificial lamb for them and you.

Now let's come back to today's time and place. Jesus paid the highest price for our sin with his life and God had counted the cost in pain and sorrow for his children and his only begotten son. We can see that quite clearly in John 3:16, which tells us: For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him, should not perish; but have everlasting life.... Jesus paid with His blood on Calvary and God paid with his son's life. This was the extremely high cost to both of them and they counted it and deemed it worthwhile.

Would you count the cost for God? Would you place the value of your life above God's and what he did for you? In my personal opinion, my life is worthless because I am a sinner. It has no value with out the Lord in my life and my accepting the gift of Salvation. Even with that the cost of my life here on earth is nothing compared to the cost that both God and his son, Jesus, paid to save us from ourselves and our iniquity. How will you count the cost of your life? Where will it get you in the end? It is something to seriously think about.