On July 16, 1969, the Apollo 11 spacecraft launched from the Kennedy Space Center on Merritt Island, Florida. The mission could have been aborted at any time before the rocket fired, launching the craft toward the moon. However, once those rockets fired, the crew of Apollo 11 was committed to completing the mission. They had reached a point where they couldn’t turn back. Forever changing humanity’s history.
In our lives, we make a lot of decisions. The average adult makes 35,000 decisions a day. That’s 245,000 a week and 12,740,000 a year. That’s a staggering amount of choice, and we probably don’t think about most of those choices twice. However, we’re likely to remember whenever a decision requires an investment; of time, money, or other resources. The greater the investment, the more we are likely to remember it.
We may often make choices like the firing of the Apollo 11 rockets. We’re committed to following those choices and completing the “mission.” Sometimes we make an investment, fire off the rockets, and then wish we hadn’t. Perhaps we didn’t see something coming, and now it’s too late to stop because everything is “in motion.” Jesus, when discussing the cost of discipleship in Luke, compares it to building a tower.
“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? For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, saying, ‘This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish.'”
Luke 14:28-30 (NIV)
No one wants to start something and be unable to complete it. The larger the project, the more humiliation that might ensue from failing to complete it. What if you started something and discovered that it was wrong? What if you weren’t building something but bought something you shouldn’t? In 2 Chronicles, King Amaziah, before going to war with the Edomites, gave them 100 talents of silver (~ $2.4 million US) to fight with Judah. However, Amaziah’s plan wasn’t right in the eyes of the Lord.
But a man of God came to him and said, “Your Majesty, these troops from Israel must not march with you, for the Lord is not with Israel—not with any of the people of Ephraim. Even if you go and fight courageously in battle, God will overthrow you before the enemy, for God has the power to help or to overthrow.”
Amaziah asked the man of God, “But what about the hundred talents I paid for these Israelite troops?”
The man of God replied, “The Lord can give you much more than that.”
2 Chronicles 25:7-9 (NIV)
We might balk at leaving 2.4 million dollars on the table and walking away, but that’s what Amaziah did. Because the man of God promised him that God could give him much more.
As Christians, we’ve all done this. Each of us was living our lives, having invested everything we had into them until one day, we walked away and left our old lives on the table. This is what being a disciple of Christ looks like.
I wonder, though, how do we handle the bad investments we make after being saved? Do we hold onto that car we shouldn’t have purchased even though we can’t afford it? Do we continue in that toxic relationship? The potential list of bad investments we can make is endless, but I think you get the point.
In this life, as long as we are alive and breathing and have a sound mind, we’ve not passed the point of no return. If you’ve given your life to Christ, then you are saved. The wrong choices you cling to are only keeping you from the abundant life Jesus has for you. If you’re reading this and you don’t yet know Jesus, it’s not too late to quit the life you’ve been living and soar to higher ground because God can give you much more!
Do you know God? God knows you, and he loves you. He sees you as significant because you are. No one is insignificant to Him. He’s with you today, and he wants you to know him. Jesus died for your sins and mine so we could be free of guilt, freed from death, and live eternally with him. Eternal salvation is just a prayer away.
Pray this prayer with me to accept the gift of salvation:
Lord Jesus, forgive me for all my sins. I repent from my ways. Wash me in your blood and cleanse me from all unrighteousness. I believe that you died on the cross, were buried, and on the third day, God the Father raised you from the dead. Right now, Lord Jesus, I open the door to my heart and receive you into my heart as my Lord and personal Savior. Amen.
If you prayed that prayer, then congratulations! You are on the first step of a brand new life. Allow me to be the first to welcome you to my family, the family of God. There are abundant resources available online for new Christians. You can visit here for more information on what to do next. You can also leave me a comment, and I’ll do my best to help you on the next step of this incredible journey.
Four-Calendar Café 