That sounds kind of off-putting, doesn’t it? But when you think about it, love does cost us something. Even in marriage, one that is real, there is a great cost. The devil wants to fool us and make us believe in fairy tales. Prince Charming is going to come along and sweep us off our feet. But then what happens? The fairy tale may end there, but life doesn’t. The devil doesn’t want us to know the difference between just running off our feelings and the true cost of love.
Jesus gave us the truth. He showed us the true cost of love on the Cross. That Cross cost him. He died on the Cross to reconcile us to Him. Romans 5:10 “For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.”
2 Corinthians 5:17-20, “17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. 18 And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.20 Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.”
He paid a high price to reconcile us to Himself. Strong’s Concordance defines reconcile as; “to reconcile (those who are at variance), return to favour with, be reconciled to one.” Jesus did that because man allowed the serpent to deceive them and caused us to live in a fallen world. According to John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
True love costs us. It is no longer about us, but about the one we love. For a marriage to last many years, those two people have to reconcile differences. We are each made differently. We have different opinions, and we see things differently. We have feelings and opinions that not everybody else can connect with or understand. We want, and sometimes believe that everybody should think like we do. That only makes us “yes men”, not the unique creations that God made us to be. We argue and fight because we can’t see past the end of our own thoughts.
Loving God and being in a relationship with Him, cost us. There is a word that most people do not want to think about, let alone do. It is called being faithful. Even when we don’t understand the opinions and feelings of others. And especially God. The Bible tells us in Isaiah 55:8-9, “8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. 9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.” God’s ways are not our ways. He doesn’t think like we do.
In order to love God and to be in a faithful, true relationship with Him, we must give of ourselves. John 15:10 “If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.” The Message Bible says it this way; “If you keep my commands, you’ll remain intimately at home in my love. That’s what I’ve done – kept my Father’s commands and made myself at home in his love.” His Word talks about abiding in Him. To abide means to remain, to continue to be present, to not depart. To abide in Him, we must submit ourselves to Him and obey what He tells us to do. That is because He is telling us of the best way, and He is telling us out of love.
In the Bible, King Uzziah was king over Israel for 52 years. It talks of all that he did and all that he accomplished, and how he became strong. And we would think that he was somebody right with the Lord, because it tells us in 2 Chronicles 26:4 “And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his father Amaziah did.” But we can’t overlook 2 Chronicles 26:5 “And he sought God in the days of Zechariah, who had understanding in the visions of God: and as long as he sought the LORD, God made him to prosper.”
As long as there was somebody to teach him, someone who was always praying for him, then King Uzziah did that which was right in the sight of the Lord. But then we come to the end of the story. 2 Chronicles 26:21 “And Uzziah the king was a leper unto the day of his death, and dwelt in a several house, being a leper; for he was cut off from the house of the LORD: and Jotham his son was over the king’s house, judging the people of the land.”
He really did not have his own relationship with God. At some point we need to grow up, and we have a choice to make. I’ve come to realize that I just wanted God to love me. But I didn’t really want to do anything for Him. As He has changed and healed me, He has helped me to open my eyes and see that all I really wanted was a fairy tale love. I wanted a fairy godmother to take away all the hurt and pain from my life. If He would have done that, there would be nothing left in me to be able to help others.
God had so much more for me. He already loves me. That love cost Him his life. He went through such excruciating and horrendous pain to prove His love for us. So, the question is, what is it worth to you? What is the love of God worth to me? Do we want to enjoy the things of this world and then perish a leper like King Uzziah? We will spend eternity in hell if that is our choice. There is more to this world then meets the eye. It is a spiritual world that really exists. God is a spirit and so is the devil. Who do we want to believe? The devil is a liar and cares nothing for us. The Bible says there is enmity, a real hatred between man and the devil. It was aimed at the woman, because Eve is the one who was deceived, but it affects all of mankind. The devil would just as soon kill us as look at us.
But God paid the ultimate price for love. In the Bible there is the story of when Jacob wrestled with an angel of the Lord all night. He refused to stop until he was blessed by God. It costs Jacob. He was in a place where he was having to face what he had done in his past. There is a price to pay for our sins, and for serving God. I have gone through years of abuse, of believing the devil over God, and it came at a cost of almost losing God’s love. That meant hell for eternity. That is what hell is. It is a place devoid of God’s love. I don’t want that. What God has asked me to do, share my story with the world, to be real and admit the brokenness and the hate and anger I had towards God, it cost me.
Nobody wants to let everybody else know the truth about who we really are. People look down on others who are “broken”, yet that is when we find the truth. That is when we look up from the bottom of the barrel, and realize we are in need of a Savior. Not just a hero or even someone else who has a walk with God, like Zechariah the priest. God, I repent of my sins. I repent of not being real with You, of wanting something that isn’t even real. I want what You did on the Cross to become the center of my life. I’ll give up the “world” and choose a relationship with You. I’ll fight for what is real, and what is good, and for this ministry that You have given me. I’ll pay the cost of being broken for Your sake. Use it for Your glory. Use it to bring others to the truth of what You did for us.
The Cost of Loving God
