How Much Does It Cost?

One of my favorite memories of being a dad while Shelbi and Morgan were young girls, were the times that they would take their own money to the store to buy something. Most of the time it involved something Barbie but sometimes it would be something like rocks. You know those bins of rocks that were so mesmerizing for young eyes. So many small things in a various array of colors. It was always a "fun" time trying to help the girls understand their options based upon the amount of money they had to spend or the packable space still left in the '95 Saturn. (Still driving that beast by the way! I know you are jealous.) Invariably, the question, "How much does it cost, daddy?" followed by, "Do I have enough?" Sometimes when they did not have enough, I would make sure that they were covered. It's what we dads do sometimes.

It was in those times that I realized that I was investing in their lives not only for the "here and now," but in hopefully helping them to understand the importance of anticipating how much something was going to cost them as they grew and developed.

I have been rather mum on the state of US affairs in the last few weeks, not because I did not have an opinion, but because I have been thinking, meditating and calculating some of the costs of many different things. Costs like:

• What will it cost me in friends if I post this or that thought?
• What will it cost others around me who by me stating my opinions will cost them something?
• What are the costs that are yet to be realized because others have made decisions that I do not agree with but effect others and myself?
• Are the costs I imagine to be legitimate or are they contrived in my mind to fit a particular agenda that I want to see realized that may differ from yours or others?
• What will it cost in the short run?
• What will it cost in the long run?
• What will it cost me in reputation or future social profitability?

These all sound like noble and worthy things for me to ponder, consider and calculate. I am a practical sense kind of guy. I am also most times very self-centered and quietly manipulative. I usually have opinions on things that in my mind really matter. I am the INFJ personality type. I like to be right. But quite honestly, sometimes I am right in the wrong way, if that makes sense.

I still do not know what all the recent Supreme Court decisions will mean for us as a nation. I do know that God has never put a prerequisite on loving those He has created. I do know that God has called me to the ministry of reconciliation as found in 2 Corinthians 5:16-21. I also know that my sin cost Christ His very life. He alone has the right to judge and the right to do as He chooses. I know that as a follower of Christ, He has called me to love and to be filled with GRACE and TRUTH. That is hard for me. I cannot do it on my own and God knew that so He gave His Son and provides His Holy Spirit to lead and guide me. Christ's death is a huge cost because of my sin. He made the One who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. (v.21)

I can't get my mind around that incredible cost, but I am grateful. Because of my sin, the wrath of God could only be satisfied by Him taking His Own and sacrificing Him because I could not cover the cost. That is the message I want to be guilty of sharing with whoever, wherever, whenever.

That's not too high a price for me to pay. "Daddy, do I have enough?" No son you don't. You never will. But through my Son, I've got you covered."