Saturday, January 12, 2013

The Cost

Foxes have their holes,
The birds have their own nests;
But the very Son of Man
Could find no place to rest.

You want to follow Christ;
Only some other day.
You have yourself to serve,
And you don’t want to pay.

But serving Jesus comes
Along with something else;
It’s giving up your hopes,
Denying all of self.

God wants all that you can give,
Your body, heart, and soul.
Commit your life to Him;
To Jesus, become sold.

Not one man who puts
His hand to the plow,
And then looks back is fit
To serve the Master now.

But you can have a chance
To give your very best.
Invite the Lord inside,
And He will find His rest.

-- Charity Lacroix, age 14

"Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me." (Rev 3:20 NASB)

"If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple. Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it? (Luk 14:26-28 NASB)

"For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel's will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul? For what will a man give in exchange for his soul?" (Mar 8:35-37 NASB)

"So then, none of you can be My disciple who does not give up all his own possessions. (Luk 14:33 NASB)

"But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ." (Phi 3:7-8 NASB)

But Jesus said to him, "No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God."  (Luk 9:62 NASB)

More of our children's poems:
Cross Bearing
Reward of the Overcomer
Mirror of Christ

Attribution notice: Most Scripture quotations taken from the NASB.

Author's note The poems in this blog were written by my children, ages seven through fourteen. The "Why This Blog" post explains how the Lord inspired these poems in answer to a prayer during illness. You're invited to read my article on this topic, called "The Cost of Discipleship," as well as "Costly Grace." I also recommend visiting my children's blog, A Brush with Life, where you will also find beautiful art they have drawn for the glory of God. You can access my complete blog directory at "Writing for the Master."  The "Your Move" painting © 2012 is by Danny Hahlbohm, all rights reserved by the artist.  Now I'd like to ask a very important question.

Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus.  Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15).  He preached that we must repent and believe.

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"
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Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.

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