Cost of Obedience

And as they led him away, they seized one Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, and laid on him the cross, to carry it behind Jesus.    (Luke 23:26)   

Doesn’t seem fair does it? Jesus is being obedient on his way to the cross and then someone else is made to suffer part of the burden with him. Jesus knew His obedience would lead to Simon having to suffer with Him. But He also knew it was necessary in order for Simon, and the world, to reap the rewards of the cross. Jesus knew His obedience would cause pain to others but, He was more concerned with obeying God. He knew that His pain would bring a greater blessing.

Too many times we fail to obey because we can’t see the benefit for us or, we see what it will cost those close to us. Obeying what God tells us to do may cause those we love to have pain. We may be pulled away from friends and family to serve in a foreign land which causes grief. We may be called to leave a prosperous career in order to go into full-time ministry. We may have to abandon the American dream in order to walk in the good works that God has prepared for us. Many a would-be missionary has weighed the cost of the mission and found it to be too high so they choose their comfort over God’s plan.

Obedience to God requires complete confidence in Him. Many times, these decisions made in obedience to God won’t make sense to the world. They may not even make sense to other believers. That’s okay. That’s what it looks like to be in the world but not of it. We have to let go of our illusion of control and remember that God’s plan has always been, and will always be better than what we could ever ask or imagine. When we ask God to bless our plans, we are simply adding Him to our lives. When we ask God to use our lives to achieve His plans, we are surrendering to Him and that’s where we need to be. We must shift our focus from being blessed for us, to becoming the blessing for others.

The cost we need to consider when following in obedience is not what price we will have to pay, but what price God has already paid.

Love Y’all! Be Blessed!