Counting the Cost – Walking the Desert

I was driving down from Sandton drive when I saw this Mercedes Benz, the latest S350. As I was admiring it and wishing I could drive one, I got thinking and I believe God asked me a question “Would I be able to handle the cost of driving one?” I asked myself ‘What cost? The car service? The price of the car?’ His answer was no, and the revelation began.

Many times we admire what other people own’ or who they have become without giving thought to what they have had to go through, endure, sacrifice, or give up to become or have what we admire. What we see and desire most times is a result of painful decisions that cost something. I realized at that moment that the owner of that car has had to pay a price to get that car. I was reminded of the many sleepless nights I endured as a student studying for exams. I didn’t pass miraculously. I had to read, give up leisure activities and sleep less hours than my siblings. Everything I have ever bought and owned has come about because there is something else I had to give up or go without to get it. Everything has a cost. If you want to reach the top, you have to work hard to get there.

Daniel and his friends Shadreck, Mischeck and Abednego “determined in their hearts” not to defile themselves with a foreign king’s delicacies and as a result of that commitment, were found to be “ten times better” than everyone else. If I want to drive that kind of car, I will have to work harder and smarter, put in more hours, save more and come up with clever ways of making more money. It doesn’t just happen and wishing alone doesn’t deliver a Mercedes Benz! You have to pay the price! What prices are you willing to pay to get the position, the business, the marriage you want? If we look at all the success stories of famous people in the world today; when we dig dipper into their lives we see that they had to sacrifice a lot for them to get to where they are. Whatever you need today, don’t just admire people’s lives and positions – be prepared to walk the desert.