Count the Cost

“The secret of empowerment lies in the desert experience:
In the desert we learn to be faithful lovers of God,
even when there is no pleasure in being a Christian
and no miracles to excite us.”
Barbara Pursey


Count the Cost:

Almost every day of our lives we do it.
We weigh the cost of things that we desire to have in our lives.
I may be as simple as deciding
whether-or-not to buy a dozen ears of corn at a farmer’s market,
or as complex as buying a new home,
but just the same we make these kinds of decisions all the time

There is another cost that we must continually weigh out,
the cost of discipleship.
Salvation is a free gift of grace, and it costs us nothing,
while it cost Christ everything!

But if we are to follow the Master,
if we seek to be a true disciple of Christ,
we must realize that there is a cost.
Jesus Himself said:

26"If anyone comes to me
and does not hate his father and mother,
his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—
yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple.
27And anyone who does not carry his cross
and follow me cannot be my disciple.
28"Suppose one of you wants to build a tower.
Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost
to see if he has enough money to complete it?
29For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it,
everyone who sees it will ridicule him,
Luke 14:26-29 NASB

This is one of those hard sayings of Jesus Christ
that many tend to gloss over when
we are reading the Word.

But the price of discipleship is nothing to be winked at.

Recently I was studying the book of Ezekiel
and saw something that caught my attention.
I’m certain I had read this before,
but this time around the Spirit of God
seemed to underline it in red.

It is the account of Ezekiel proclaiming God’s Word
to a rebellious and hard hearted people.
God’s judgment was upon them
and He was about to utilize His servant Ezekiel
as an example of what he had in store for them.

Note what God required of His devoted servant.

15And the word of the LORD came to me saying,
16"Son of man, behold, I am about to take from you
the desire of your eyes with a blow;

16 -With a blow (stroke)
A sudden stroke, by God’s own immediate hand.
We know not how soon the desire of our eyes
may be removed from us.
Death is a stroke, which the most pious,
the most useful, the most amiable
are not exempted from.

but you shall not mourn and you shall not weep,
and your tears shall not come.
17"Groan silently; make no mourning for the dead

Groan silently- It was customary
for the bereaved family to mourn in public,
often even hiring professional wailers
as an expression of their grief.

Bind on your turban and put your shoes on your feet,

It was customary for the Jews
to go bear-headed and shoeless
as a sign of mourning

and do not cover your mustache

the upper lip was
also covered as a mourning sign.

and do not eat the bread of men."

Relatives and friends
would bring fine foods
for the mourning family to eat.

18So I spoke to the people in the morning,

I spoke: “I told them
what I expected would happen.

and in the evening my wife died.

And in the morning I did as I was commanded.

19The people said to me,
"Will you not tell us what these things that you are doing mean for us?"
20Then I said to them,
"The word of the LORD came to me saying,
21'Speak to the house of Israel, "Thus says the Lord GOD,
'Behold, I am about to profane My sanctuary,

Profane — Cast off,
and put into the hands of Heathens

the pride of your power, the desire of your eyes

The desire — As much your desire,
as my wife was mine; most dear to you.
He is comparing the desire of Ezekiel for his own wife
with the peoples desire toward the temple.
So their souyl’s desire (the Temple)
would be destroyed quickly in a stroke,
just as Ezekiel quickly lost his wife

and the delight of your soul;

The Jews wrongly concluded, that because God’s temple
and the ark of the covenant was in their midst
God’s protection and blessing
would never leave them
nor would He bring judgment upon them.
His very presence became
a stumbling block because of their
pride and ‘religiousity’.

and your sons and your daughters
whom you have left behind will fall by the sword.
22 'You will do as I have done;

You will do- When you are in captivity,
where you may not use your own customs.

you will not cover your mustache
and you will not eat the bread of men.
23'Your turbans will be on your heads
and your shoes on your feet.
You will not mourn and you will not weep,
but you will rot away in your iniquities

rot (pine) away — You shall languish with secret sorrow,
when you shall not dare to shew it openly.

and you will groan to one another.
24'Thus Ezekiel will be a sign to you;
according to all that he has done you will do;
when it comes, then you will know that I am the Lord GOD.'"
25'As for you, son of man,
will it not be on the day when I take from them their stronghold,
their stronghold — Their walls and fortifications.
the joy of their pride, the desire of their eyes

The joy of their pride

—
All their public and private joys
and hopes shall be destroyed
in the destruction of the kingdom,
and their children.
and their heart's delight, their sons and their daughters,

26that on that day he who escapes
will come to you with information for your ears?

For your ears

—
To give thee a narrative
of all he had seen

27'On that day your mouth will be opened to him who escaped,
and you will speak and be mute no longer.
Thus you will be a sign to them,
and they will know that I am the LORD.'"
Ezekiel 24:15-27 NASB (My emphasis bold/commentary ed.:fkj)

God’s love for the lost, even the most rebellious is this great,
that He would take that which is most precious to us, His servants,
and remove it,
so that we might be an example
to bring a lost and dying world
to the place of repentance and restoration in Him.

For was this not what He did for us, each one of us…
He took His only Son and sacrificed Him who was without sin
so that we could be redeemed by His Blood

Are we prepared to walk

in this kind of unquestioning obedience?

Selah

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