Count the Cost

 

"For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, 'This man began to build and was not able to finish.'" Luke 14:28-30 (ESV)

We often talk about counting the cost when it comes to starting a business, taking a new job, deciding whether to attend college, selecting a vehicle, or buying a house. Most of those decisions regarding cost can be fairly black and white (no one likes the prospect of red when it comes to money!). Other areas are less clear like the cost of starting a family.  According to the USDA in 2014, it would cost $245,000 to raise a child to adulthood. That "estimate," however, fails to take into account the ingenuity of cash-strapped parents!  The adage, "Where there's a will, there's a way!" definitely applies to parenthood. I assure you that we did not spend anywhere close to that in raising 6 children. If you are trying to decide whether you can "afford" a child, the answer is yes, as long as you are willing to make other sacrifices. 

For the majority of our parenting years, we have lived on one income in the human services field (translation--not an astronomical amount). As a new mom, I felt strongly that I should be at home with my child. Part of that decision was fiscally motivated. When I considered the cost of childcare, the cost of eating out for corporate meetings, and the cost of professional clothing, it was clear that the cost benefit of being employed was actually pretty low (and that didn't even factor in the emotional cost of being away from my child). So we decided as a family to make some sacrifices. Over the years, some of those included:

• Moving from a large, metropolitan area to a small rural community where the cost of living was a fraction of what we had been paying
• Making do with one vehicle for a number of years (I could walk anywhere we needed in our small town--great way to get exercise!) and keeping it until the cost of repair exceeded its value
• Contenting ourselves with used vehicles (honestly, the thought of buying a brand new car and having its value plummet the moment it was driven off the lot has been enough to convince me that I will never "need" a new car) 
• Choosing to live in what many would consider a very small house.  I cannot tell you how many times we have been told, "You HAVE to find a bigger house!" (Unfortunately, those observations never came with a check for a down payment on something larger.) Whenever I would get depressed by a lack of space, my husband often pointed out that we were living in better conditions than most of the world population. 
• Frequenting Aldi--a grocery store where food staples are very reasonably priced. My husband is a master at finding marked down products there. I remember one time, he stopped in before a snow storm when Aldi anticipated being closed and they were selling loaves of bread for 10 cents!!  (Needless to say, hubby picked up a LOT of bread that day; some of which we shared with neighbors).
• Shopping for clothes (and even gifts) for our entire family at second hand shops. We were thrifting before it was cool. One of our most memorable finds was a LEGO viking ship from Goodwill that we purchased for $8 when we were newly married.  We didn't even have kids but enjoyed assembling it together (about 15 years later, we gave that set to one of our kids).
• Buying things on clearance after holidays. We have several February birthdays so after Christmas sales were a great time to buy for upcoming birthdays. 
• Doing without expensive vacations or eating out. Visiting grandparents were our vacations and hubby packed lunches for work instead of eating out.

Counting the cost of living on one income is just one example from my own life and believe me, those sacrifices were not always made cheerfully). That may not apply to your life, but we all daily count the cost in a number of ways. When the alarm goes off, we consider whether we can afford a few more minutes of sleep (for me, I find the price is too high because I feel behind the rest of my day).  When we prepare a household budget, we are counting the cost of expenses against available income. We count the cost when we decide if we will spend more money up front on a higher quality item of clothing or perhaps pay in the long term by replacing items multiple times. 

Even a child knows what it means to count the cost when they have to choose between the cost of telling the truth or telling a lie. We count the cost in how we spend our time. As a student, we may weigh the costs between studying for a test or going out with friends. One of our sons who loves math approached his college finals mathematically. He knew exactly what grades he needed on which finals to get his desired final grade. He therefore spent the most time (highest cost) studying for those classes in which his performance mattered the most. 

How you count the cost of your decisions depends on what you value most. If your life were boiled down to a cost analysis sheet, what conclusions would others draw about your priorities?  Wherever we commit our time, money, energy, and focus reveals what we truly treasure most.  Is it in financial success? In outwardly perfect children? The "right" college? The best neighborhood?  In perfect health?  How we live each and every day forms a map of our life and reveals a big "X" marking the spot of our treasure. 

Jesus offered the following advice in Matthew 6:19-21 about where our treasure should be stored,  

"Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." (ESV)

We can spend our life storing up treasures that will never last, or store up treasures that we'll never lose. Jesus shared these sobering words with his disciples when talking about the cost of following Him in Matthew 16:24-26:

"Then Jesus told his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?" (ESV)

What might it mean to take up your cross to follow Jesus?  It could involve one or more of the following:

• Losing a job because you will not follow unethical practices
• Being rejected by family members who want nothing to do with your faith
• Giving up a secure income in order to obey the call to full-time ministry
• Laying down your life by walking through a terminal diagnosis

And it will most definitely involve:

• Giving up sin that entangles and trips us (Hebrews 12:1)
• Submitting to the Lord's pruning for the sake of future growth (John 15:2)
• Being refined by fire so that Christ can be honored and glorified (1 Peter 1:7)
• Accepting God's discipline because it is for our good and done out of love (Hebrews 12:7-11)

Ultimately, counting the cost involves caring more about the long-term than the short-term. And this life is definitely the short-term because no matter how long we live, we will be dead a lot longer. At least dead to this earthly world. The Bible makes it clear that every person will live out eternity either in the presence of God or apart from Him. Don't wait until it's too late and spend eternity wishing you had rightly counted the cost of what matters most.