“sit down first and count the cost”

Luke 14:28

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So my boy had a hockey tournament this past weekend.  There are so many teams in his league (who says Southern Californians only surf??) that they had a tournament to see how good the teams are, so they could group them into equal divisions.  It was a fun weekend, but a little tricky, too, because while we had times and locations for the first couple games, we had to wait to find out the where and when for the rest.  I’m sure there was a lot of juggling for the schedulers.  And it worked out pretty well, since we had nothing else planned for Labor Day weekend.

But then this afternoon, right before we left for practice, my son mentioned that his coach had said that practice might be two hours instead of one today.  I didn’t get official notification from the team mom until ten minutes after practice started.  Nothing like a little notice, right?  And then, as it turned out, practice was 90 minutes, not the 60 minutes it has been, not the two hours we were told.

And I was reminded, not for the first time, of the difficulties that come with sports.  When I joined Bible study, for instance, I knew that class was held on Thursdays.  I checked my calendar to make sure that would work with my schedule, and then once I’d made the decision, then I knew that I couldn’t schedule anything else on Thursdays.  It was all very simple and organized.

But Sports doesn’t care about my calendar.  Sports thinks it’s entitled to as much of my life (because my son’s life is inextricable with mine) as the coach deems necessary.  Sports doesn’t care about advance warning, or for that matter, dinner or homework or the high cost of gas.  Or apparently even saying what it means and meaning what it says.

Jesus said, in Luke 14, “Which of you, intending to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost?”  We are reminded to be aware of what our commitment to our faith will cost us.  And that’s a good reminder for other areas of our lives, too.

But sometimes that’s hard.  There are “hidden fees” to a lot of the activities of our lives.  Which is why we need to be devoted to those things we choose ~ whether it’s the advantages of youth hockey, or a life given to Him.

Know why you believe what you believe, and you’ll stand firm when things get tough.

~ “whoever of you does not forsake all that he has

cannot be My disciple.” ~

Luke 14:33

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