You may have heard or read the passage in New Testament that warns of careless ventures in life.
For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? (Luke 14:28, ESV)
I have always taken this verse to be a declaration from Jesus that His followers should carefully consider what it means to follow Him as their Lord and Savior. This morning, however, a thought from Oswald Chambers had me reading the verse in a whole new light.
“Our Lord was not referring here to a cost which we have to count, but to a cost which He has already counted. The cost was those thirty years in Nazareth, those three years of popularity, scandal, and hatred, the unfathomable agony He experienced in Gethsemane, and the assault upon Him at Calvary— the central point upon which all of time and eternity turn. Jesus Christ has counted the cost.” -Chambers
This thought actually enhances the verse for me. In my acknowledged sinful state – as confirmed by friends and family – there is really no way that apart from the work of Christ I could even know what costs to count!
Have you ever had one of those moments where you think you are “getting saved” all over again. Those daily moments where you think, “How did I miss this part of what Jesus was really saying to me in the past?” Those moments affirm to me that I am not capable of understanding everything that my faith in Christ will cost me in the future. BUT I can certainly rest knowing that through His weighing of the situation – His ability to know all of the costs – Jesus provided for all possible turns and stumbles in my life.
No wonder Paul so confidently declared,
“And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” (Philippians 1:6, ESV)
God started this journey – God will provide for this journey to end well – now all I need to do is journey with God!
