The value of things is in what we will trade for them.
In the summer of 2019, the newest mid-engine Corvette debuted on the world stage with a promised price tag of under $60,000.
That’s far above the price most people can afford for a car but well below the price of other sports cars with comparable stats.
A week later, Chevrolet reported its proposed first year run for the 2020 Vette was already pre-ordered. The last redesign in 2014 produced 35,000 cars during its first build year.
Ford’s GT is a sports car that lands squarely in the super-car lineup. It’s priced over $500,000. Yet Ford has already increased its production numbers, and that’s just for cars already designated for specific buyers. The public won’t have an opportunity to purchase until well in the future.
How valuable are we? What’s our worth? What are we willing to trade to move ourselves into the next level?
Matthew 16:24-26 tells three things it will cost us if we truly want to follow Jesus.
“Then Jesus told his disciples, ‘If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?’ ”
To bring this into sharp relief, let’s lay out the price Jesus gives us.
Our 1st Cost:
We must deny ourselves.
Jesus is saying we can’t come first. Our wants and desires can’t take precedence over the promptings of the Holy Spirit.
Our 2nd Cost:
We must take up the cross of Jesus.
What did Jesus accept as the price of his divinity while he walked among us? He was taunted, ridiculed, and misunderstood, yet he continually shared the message of salvation.
Our 3rd Cost:
We are to follow Christ.
We are to model our lives after his. Be kind. Go out of our way to help others. Refuse to retaliate. Treat others as we would wish to be treated.
That’s it. That’s the price we pay for our soul. One, two, three, Jesus summed it up.
Jesus is our example. Our lives must emulate his.
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