Weighing the Cost

“Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the Lord makes his life a guilt offering, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand. After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light of life, and be satisfied, by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities.”— Isaiah 53:10-11

My son is interested in doing high school sailing racing.

The other day we went to a meeting at a regional sailing school to learn what it takes. After listening to an instructor talk about the hours of weekly practice in the spring (when the ice is still slow to melt off the lake), the clothing and equipment needed, the day-long regattas on weekends where you are on and off the water no matter the weather, and so on, my son is re-thinking the idea. He has counted the cost of all these variables and decided it may not be the best fit with his school schedule and homework.

Isn’t that life, though? We are always faced with decisions, and must weigh the costs: financial costs, how will this impact other areas of life—school, work, free time, what will I get out of it compared to what I put into it, and how will it impact other loved ones?

Tough questions to answer, even with small decisions. It’s interesting. Over the years I can think of decisions we have made as a family or individually that have been such a huge time commitment and cost that I was glad when the activity ended. We were out of balance with the rest of life, and knew it. Other times I have weighed the costs and determined not to do something, then later wished I had.

God’s love is extravagant—- He weighed the cost of sending His Son Jesus to die for sinful humanity so that they might live. I am glad God made that decision, because if it were me, I probably wouldn’t have done it. I don’t have that kind of love in my heart. But thankfully, God does, and He made that choice. The cost of one death was a ransom for many, and God decided it was worth the cost. So He did it.

As we soon enter into Holy Week, I hope we can reflect on that decision. I hope my heart will turn towards God as I reflect on His extravagant love, knowing He weighed the cost and chose Jesus to die for my sins. All so I could live with Him forever.

Won’t you join me, in weighing the costs for serving God? What if we said yes? Imagine what we could do in this world….

Prayer—-“Gracious God, thank you for your extravagant love. Thank you for choosing to send Jesus to die for my sins so that I can live with you. Help me weigh the costs when it comes to serving you and come out saying, “Yes, Your will be done.” In Jesus’ Name. Amen.”