“Ask and it will be given to you, seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.” (Matthew 7:7-8, NIV)
It is interesting to watch professional golfers as they factor in all the calculations that might impact their shot. They measure distance, they look at their stance and the way their ball lies. They feel the direction and speed of the wind. When they have all that figured out, they take a practice swing or two to review how they want to hit the ball. At some point, hopefully within the 40 seconds they are allowed, they set themselves and make the swing. For a split second the only thing that matters is trusting in what they have practiced a thousand times before and having faith that the club will hit the ball in the way they expect.
To believe in and trust in God actually requires a similar process. Jesus never asks us to blindly follow him. He tells us to count the cost before we take the leap of faith. If you want to call yourself a follower of Jesus but also want your life to be unchanged, you haven’t really counted the cost. You have not made the calculations necessary to truly trust in God.
Becoming a follower of Jesus requires a commitment that will change the calculus of your life forever. That commitment will reorient your ideas about life and death and the way you interact with the people around you. When we ask and seek and knock, there is a promise that we will receive and find and the door to God will be opened to us.
What do we want more: a life where we can say we did it our way or a life that is lived connected to the one who made us?On the other side of that door is a life that is richer, more beautiful, and more filled with love than anyone can imagine. But that kind of life comes at a cost. We must surrender our life to the one who gave his life for us.
God loves us with a reckless kind of love. This doesn’t mean his love is willy-nilly; it means he loves us without regard for his own skin. Jesus counted the cost, which meant going to the cross to die. He puts it all out there and says, “I’m here if you’ll have me.” There’s no earthly love that compares to that. To trust in Jesus, to be connected to God, requires that we all do the calculation. Would it be worth it to give our ambition, our goals, our money, our fame to God in return for a life that allows us to become the best version of ourselves—a version of which he is the author? If your goal in life is to make it to the top on your own, there is no room for a life of faith.
At the end of the day, we all must make the calculation. What do we want more: a life where we can say we did it our way or a life that is lived connected to the one who made us? He is the one who has promised that if we knock, he will open the door. Just as the golfer calculates all the variables, there is a point where all that matters is trusting the shot. Jesus says to count the cost but to trust in him for the best life that can be had. The point of impact in the swing and the leap of faith to believe in Jesus and what he said about himself are the same. Pure trust. Will it be worth it? You have to hit the shot to know.
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Linda Ballard
September 5, 2019
Copyright 2019 Links Players International
The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.
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