Rerun of Daily Devotional August 21, 2019
Monday evening, the farrier came out to work on our horses. As he trimmed hoofs, he mentioned that he had a client that was looking for a good home for one of her horses. As he began to describe the attributes of the horse, I realized Shannon was becoming far too interested in the conversation.
The best way to describe her response to a free horse is to think in terms of a drug addict being offered a free hit of crack. She was all in.
Then, after I experienced a few fearful moments, sanity returned to Shannon. She laughed and said, “I’d take the horse, but my husband would divorce me.” I was very relieved.
My big concern was that Shannon was going to simply act on impulse instead of thinking through the consequences of her actions. In this case, that meant more feed, vet, and farrier costs, on top of the additional time she would have to spend working with the new horse when she is already stretched too thin taking care of the horses she has.
So, when she laughed and said I’d divorce her if she got another horse, I didn’t dispute her words. That pretty much ended the conversation.
The point to this rambling is that every decision comes with a cost. And decisions that are made without considering the costs can be very expensive in terms of money, time, effort, and outcome.
When teaching what it meant to become one of his followers, Jesus was very clear that there was a cost that needed to be considered. He said, “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it?” (Luke 14:28)
Making the decision to follow Jesus will comes with the cost of our time, effort, commitment, and money. And in looking at the cost, it is the best decision we can ever make. It is the decision that saves our souls and brings happiness and purpose. It’s a bargain.
So, if you haven’t make the decision to follow Jesus, know that there is a cost but it is negligible when you look at what you get in return – eternity.
Prayer: Dear Gracious Heavenly God, guide my decisions. Give me wisdom to know your will. Give me strength to follow your call. Give me the resolve to see it through. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.
Every decision comes with a cost. Following Jesus is the best decision we will ever make.
Also, just for the record, I love Shannon too much to divorce her if she got another horse. But I’m also not going to tell her.
I pray your day is filled with joy and laughter.
Tom Robbins
Daily Devotionals by Dr. Tom Robbins 