{"id":3374,"date":"2020-10-01T05:42:03","date_gmt":"2020-10-01T11:42:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/?p=3374"},"modified":"2020-09-29T07:09:57","modified_gmt":"2020-09-29T13:09:57","slug":"calculate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/?p=3374","title":{"rendered":"calculate"},"content":{"rendered":"

I\u2019ve always been pretty good at sneaking into buildings, such as churches and especially gyms. Of course, it helped while growing up that my dad was the keeper of many keys as the head of a school, but even without a key, there\u2019s usually a way.<\/p>\n

\"img_1706\"<\/a>Not long ago, I found the one weakness in a huge house not too far from where we live. It sits by itself a quarter of a mile off a main road and is quite beautiful. Inside, I counted five fireplaces, three huge rooms with domed ceilings, and thirteen potential bedrooms.<\/p>\n

The problem is, the mansion is unfinished. I think construction may have started eight years ago and there has been no activity the past couple of years. I am no builder, but I\u2019d guess the house could be ready for occupancy if a hard-working crew dedicated three solid weeks to paint, finish the floors, and complete the extravagant bathrooms and kitchen. It might cost a million dollars, but I\u2019m sure millions have already been invested.<\/p>\n

The backstory of this house is a mystery, but it reminds me of a teaching of Jesus: \u201cWho would begin construction of a building without first calculating the cost to see if there is enough money to finish it? Otherwise, you might complete only the foundation before running out of money, and then everyone would laugh at you.\u201d Jesus was discussing the cost of discipleship: \u201cAnd if you do not carry your own cross and follow Me, you cannot be My disciple. Don\u2019t begin until you count the cost.\u201d (see Luke 14:27-29)<\/p>\n

This instruction is not about salvation\u2026 which is a gift of God. \u201cFor the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.\u201d (Romans 6:23) \u201cFor it is by grace you have been saved through faith \u2013 and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.\u201d (Ephesians 2:8)<\/p>\n

We will never deserve the great salvation we\u2019ve received, but if I want to be like Peter or Paul or Mary Magdalene, or Mary, the mother of Jesus, I need to calculate a bit. The volunteer who says, \u201cI want to follow you Jesus, but first let me take care of this and that\u2026\u201d might be told: \u201cYou\u2019re not ready to follow Me quite yet\u2026 you see, I\u2019m the King and everything is on My terms\u2026\u201d (see Luke 9:57-62)<\/p>\n

\u201cBut Lord,\u201d I say, \u201cI\u2019m not sure I have what it takes. I do come empty-handed and I think I love You now more than ever, yet my faith sometimes falters. I want to be brave, but I\u2019m sometimes fearful. Is there any hope?\u201d I think Jesus would smile and answer: \u201cYes! Come to Me for what you don\u2019t<\/em> have. I\u2019m the Author and Perfector of your faith. I know how to make you brave. You won\u2019t be carrying your cross alone. I have given you the Holy Spirit! He is your Helper, your Comforter, and your Teacher. Take courage and follow Me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you love Me, you will obey what I command. And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Counselor to be with you forever \u2013 the Spirit of truth.\u201d John 14:15-17<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I\u2019ve always been pretty good at sneaking into buildings, such as churches and especially gyms. Of course, it helped while growing up that my dad was the keeper of many keys as the head of a school, but even without a key, there\u2019s usually a way. Not long ago, I found the one weakness in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3374","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-holy-spirit"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3374","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3374"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3374\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3377,"href":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3374\/revisions\/3377"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3374"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3374"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3374"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}