Bargain Shopper

How much are you willing to pay for something that you really want? Do you pay full price? Do you watch for a sale, and maybe try to find a coupon too? Do you wait until you see it at a rummage sale and then try to talk them down to a price that won't impact your pocket book too much? Is that really fair though, to want something so desirable for a bargain basement price?

I recently watched the movie "How To Save A Life". Even though it is set in a high school and borders on the unrealistically dramatic, I would recommend it. The main character asks the question before coming to faith, "Is He worth it?" It really got me thinking about all the times I've wanted something for nothing, and ended up with nothing.

We pray to have a closer relationship with God, but on our terms. The processes that we can know Him through, and see His character revealed, are not always easy ones. We get the deeper dependency, the more intimate knowledge of who He is, in the hard times. The times when we have no one else to lean on. The times when our hearts are broken and we finally turn to Him to fill us up. If you knew ahead of time the journey that God would take you on to go deeper in your relationship with Him, would you try to haggle Him down to a more acceptable price?

I prayed today that one of my kids would come to see the need for Jesus in their life, but I prayed cautiously...one of those "be careful what you wish for" thoughts. What price am I willing to see my child pay in order to gain a relationship with Christ? We want what we want without having to really sacrifice for it.

I just finished reading What Happens When Women Say Yes to God by Lysa TerKeurst. It is a book based on radical obedience...saying yes regardless of the price to us. Not in a "cut off your arm" sort of way, but in an "I don't need to be first because God is first in my life" sort of way. Definitely challenging...you know how I like to hold the reins.

Life is hard and hurtful sometimes, but if we can be obedient to the things that He asks of us, He is worth it. The price that we pay to know Him more fully is nothing compared to the price that He paid to make it all possible. Like the VISA commericals say...Priceless.