Cost and cause

Scriptural Readings:  

James 1:16-18

Is there anyone who can battle and overcome failure with ease and comfort? What follows disappointment? Try again until we succeed. Right? There needs to be something done between failure and success.

As we continue to fail, hope and resilience are always at the top of our list. They automatically come out as our response. But for how long? Frustrations are crippling moments. And quitting is the easiest solution.

King James Version

v.16 Do not err, my beloved brethren. 

v.17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.

New Living Translation  

v.16 Don’t be misled, my dear brothers and sisters. 

v.17 Whatever is good and perfect is a gift coming down to us from God, our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow.

The result is not the end.

Diligent work and self-effort cannot guarantee success. There is no highway leading there. Instead, avenues are there to explore. No one is to blame except us if it fails. If someone disputes, we always insist on a carefully crafted plan, and everything will flow smoothly. What if it is an epic failure? The result is not the end.

Success comes from God. It is a framework for Christians. Our Father in heaven uses success as a springboard for more shots for His glory. Failures are part of success. Here, human initiative plays a role. It proves the error of our thinking and the incompetence of our efforts, leaving only God Almighty's most excellent work unquestionable.

The cost

Everything has a price. Bills pile up with every move we make. The notion that everything has a cost is a common rule. It is ingrained in us. Several of these human-produced ideas are consistently at odds with God. We gladly welcome them once in a while.

The costs are too high! It seldom drops in price and will be whatever is required to complete our purchases. Afraid we will not make it in the future. Free stuff is increasingly scarce these days. It is a reality we have every day and is beyond our control. It is the current definition of cost.

How can we achieve savings? Even though prices are increasing, we can still survive. Right? Living in a technologically advanced world has fewer worries. We can find a solution either way. It is how we experience life in the physical realm. But living in the spiritual world is entirely different. Spiritual living requires total dependence on God. Our efforts are based on God's instructions, not on our own. Our Father in heaven calls the shots, and it's on His terms that we follow.

As Christians, we must realise and fully grasp and understand salvation. The salvation we receive is free! There are no costs. No burdens are necessary. It is a divine gift meant for everyone to receive. Thus, we give ourselves over to accepting and believing. We only need to do these things. Instead, God paid the price for our redemption. He purchased us back through the blood of His Son. A cost we cannot ever pay. A spiritual definition of cost.

King James Version

v.18 Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.

New Living Translation

v.18  He chose to give birth to us by giving us his true word. And we, out of all creation, became his prized possession.

The cause

Cause and effect. It is the basis of our past, present, and future. To make an educated decision, we must understand the rationale and the results. We live and die this way. The thing about today is that the effect is unmistakable, but the cause is obscure. Uncertainties become reliable if they make us comfortable. Are we living for the right reasons? Is the reason for our existence as Christians the absolute path?

Accepting our wrongdoings is the hardest thing to admit. At this moment, humility is at its lowest and is often lost. We are entirely blind to the true meaning of the cause of our salvation. We know, and it is true, that we live by grace and mercy. But do we know why God saved us? Love. God loves us. If our purpose is to please God, we must follow His will.

One reason we remain unsure about our spiritual lives is our feeble-mindedness. Unaware of this, we become vulnerable, allowing doubt to creep in and add to petty controversies. Uncertainty about our spiritual lives causes us to swing from one extreme to another.

We are the children of God. We are to live in a relationship with the Father. There is no other reason or cause why you and I and the rest of humanity would come to repent and accept Jesus as Lord and Savior. We were made in God's image and given the ability to live our lives in harmony with Him eternally.

This world we live in will end soon. Nobody can stop it. While people are still struggling with the truth, we must consider the cost and cause of our spiritual lives. We must share this priceless spiritual gift. Let us remember the primary source, the love of God for us, that we spread the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.