The Price
...we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. 2 Corinthians 4:8-10 nasbu
Hundreds of them. Thousands of them. Look-alikes to the more traditional (and more polite) ladybug, this Asian yellow-green spotted beetle has prematurely emerged from hibernation with the warm Indian Summer days we have been enjoying. On a sunny, dry autumn day the south-facing wall of a light-colored house can be covered by the insect hosts, sharing real estate with the equally annoying box elder bug. But the true pestilence is their proclivity to invade the home, finding their way around shut doors and windows to swarm on the inside of the glass or around lights. While they do not have the fly's irritating buzz, they can still land in the hair, on arms and legs and clothing--and they know how to bite. Our brethren in more populated climes experience this diminutive pest as well, but not at all in the overwhelming numbers of we in the country. We who live in the country can boast cleaner air, a more scenic panorama out the porch window, a pleasant quietude devoid of obnoxious mechanical or human sounds, and an oft-gentle communion with the beasts of the field. But we also can pay an extra price for this sylvan existence. There can also be more unpleasantness--an uncomfortable proximity to the laws of natural survival, death, and rotting destruction. Flies, mosquitos, mice and shrews, and, yes, these confounded little beetles are all in more plentiful supply outside the city limits.And He has said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness." Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ's sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong. 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 nasbu
The believer, as well, pays a price for the peace and security that comes with faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. He is a pilgrim sojourning in an alien land, often reduced to a painful homesickness for a place he has never seen, for people he has never met. A being already set out of time and place, the Christian can also be subjected to the cynical abuse of those for whom this time and place are home. And in locations far removed from the relative tranquility of our Madison County, the Christian can pay a horrible, mortal price for his faith. God knows--and only He--what will be asked of any one believer: It may be life itself; it may be very little indeed. Whatever it is, it is a price worth paying. Even if we are asked to pay our dues along the way, the destination is still free. What lies at the end of every believer's journey is something unimaginably wonderful and rich. There remains for everyone who calls Jesus "Lord" that unspeakably bright tomorrow with Him.For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day. 2 Timothy 1:12 kjv