Counting the Cost Before You Sign
"For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it?" — Luke 14:28
A Covenant With the Price Written In
Consider the terms of one covenant God offered, and notice that He stated the cost plainly before asking for an answer.
First, she was to commit her life to God to be used in any way He chose to directly combat the powers of darkness.
Second, she must understand that such a commitment would carry a very high price. She would lose her career, her family, all her friends, and nearly everything she held dear. She would suffer tremendously, physically and emotionally.
But God promised that He would be beside her through all of it, and that through it He would reveal Himself to her in a deep and personal way that would not be possible by any other course her life could take. Many souls would be saved and brought out of captivity.
And God made plain that this was His first choice for her life. However — and this is the part most people never hear about — if she did not choose it, He would still bless her in the career she had already chosen. She would simply never come to know Him as closely as she would by walking the harder road.
What That Tells Us About God
Sit with the structure of that offer, because it corrects several things we assume.
He told her the cost in advance. He did not recruit her with a partial description and reveal the terms later. God does not need to trick anyone into serving Him.
He offered a genuine alternative. She was not threatened. If she declined, He would still bless her. The choice was real, and refusing it was not damnation.
The reward He offered was Himself. Not success, not impact, not a platform — a deeper knowledge of God that no other path could give.
And it was still a hard decision. She anguished over it for about a week, counting the cost as best she could.
The Clause That Should Sober You
She knew without a doubt that once she made such a covenant there would be no opportunity to back out. When the going got rough she could not change her mind. If she did, she would lose her relationship with the Lord — and that she could not bear.
At the end of that week she got on her knees and made the covenant, changing the course of her life forever.
"No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God." (Luke 9:62)
Do Not Answer Quickly
Jesus specifically warned against enthusiasm that has not done arithmetic.
"For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it? Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him." (Luke 14:28–29)
He was not discouraging the builder. He was insisting on an honest accounting first — because a half-built tower dishonors the builder more than one never attempted.
If God offers you a covenant, take the week. Count it. Then answer.
Point to Ponder
God does not need to trick anyone into serving Him. He states the price and then waits for an honest answer.
Verse to Remember
"No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God." — Luke 9:62
Question to Consider
If God told me the full price in advance, would I still say yes?
Today's Practice
Do the arithmetic in writing today, before you are ever asked.
Write down what a serious call would actually cost you specifically. Not in general terms — yours.
What would it cost your career? Your income? Your standing with your family? Your friendships? Your health? Your plans for the next twenty years? Your children's expectations? Your privacy?
Be concrete and be honest. Name the actual job, the actual relationships, the actual future you have been building.
Then write, at the bottom of the page, the two things God offered in exchange: His presence through all of it, and a knowledge of Him not available any other way.
Look at both columns together. Do not decide anything today. Just look at them honestly, which is more than most believers ever do.
Prayer
Father, thank You that You tell the truth about what following You costs. You have never recruited anyone by hiding the price, and You are not starting with me.
I have written out what it would cost, and the list frightens me. I am not going to pretend it does not.
But I have also written what You offer, and I notice that You do not offer success or ease. You offer Yourself. You offer to be beside me through every part of it and to let me know You in a way I could not otherwise.
I want that more than I want the list I am protecting. Or at least, I want to want it — and I am asking You to make that true of me.
If You call me, let me count it properly and then answer without looking back. In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
He offered her a genuine alternative and a real blessing if she declined. The choice was not a threat.