Count Up the Cost

Competition brings out the beast in me.  I’m a winner.  I like to win.  I want to win.  So, it should come as no surprise to you that I can turn any simple thing into a competition.  Now, don’t get me wrong.  I don’t walk around like a big bully challenging people to duels.  I have a healthy appreciation for games and fun.  Being the big sister to Bible Study Brother helped shape his fiercely competitive nature.  I keep him on his toes.

We were in a store one day getting groceries.  Occasionally, we like to have fat kid collaboration meals.  We decide on a meal that we want to eat and think of ways that we can take it up a notch.  (That was just extra information and has nothing to do with the real point of the story.  I’m long-winded…I like details….you should know this by now…)  As we placed our goods on the conveyor belt, I blurted out what I thought the total would be.  He gave his guesstimate and a new challenge was born.

This started a new trend.  We didn’t do it every time that we went to the store together, but it became a pretty regular occurrence.  Bible Study Brother had a trick up his sleeve though.  He always let me guess first.  He adjusted whatever number he had in his head based on what I said.  I didn’t catch on originally.  One day, he confessed his strategy while laughing at my obviously distraught face after losing.  He didn’t have to be mindful of the cost on his own, because he knew that I would be.

Why was I so mindful of the cost?  Glad you asked.  Because quite often, I was paying for it.  When it’s your money, or your skin in the game, you tend the count up the cost.  I worked to earn the money and wanted to know how much my shopping trips were going to cost me. 

If only I was that mindful about the spiritual cost of my decisions.  Child, I walk around the world all willy-nilly and loosie-goosey at times.  I forget that my freedom was paid for at an exceedingly high cost.  I just revel in the fact that I’m free, and I’m free to make whatever choice I please.  I push away the fact that Jesus literally died in my place.  Thankfully, there has been a change in me. Even when it’s uncomfortable, I have to remember the price that was paid.  Even though it pains me, I have to count the cost of my actions.  Jesus believed in us so much that He put his own skin in the game. 

In order to be a true winner, I must count up the cost.  #wepreach