The Cost of True Worship

Lately I have been struggling with telling the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.  Not that I am just going around lying, but I feel like I have somewhat started sugarcoating some of my feelings, and I am not sure why.

Deciding to embark on the journey that Jason and I have, we have obviously been asked a lot of 'Why' questions.  From friends, definitely from family and even from people I hardly know.

It isn't that we don't have a good answer or don't want to talk about it.  I DO!  In fact, there is hardly anything I would rather talk about more at the moment.  So please, keep asking.  I feel like there is this fire burning within me and all I want to do is set anything ablaze that I can with it.  I want to scream it from the rooftops.  So why don't I?

I think I am mostly worried about other people's discomfort.  That me voicing what is happening in our lives will make them feel like I am judging theirs.  I am not.

It is just that Jason and I finally see that worship is not true worship if there is no cost.  Service is not true service without sacrifice.  These are our feelings.  This is why we want to follow God's calling of our lives to Uganda.  Not because it will be a vacation, or easy.  But because we clearly hear Him and are finally listening.  What we have He has given us and we are willing to let go of those things to serve Him in this way.  The way that He has called us.  To help the orphans and the widows.  To make disciples of all nations.  To hopefully let Jesus shine through us to lead more people to His kingdom.

We are not trying to deny our children things here, but realize that the true gift that we can give them is not a material possession, but the gift of a close, intimate relationship with God.  A life of total surrender to and for Him, and a life focused on the eternal rather than the earthly.  We realize this may not be popular opinion, but it is our responsibility to do for them what we feel is best.  As Christians, how are we to go wrong by serving Him?

God gave me such an awesome reminder of all of this today in II Samuel.  King David had done wrong against God and wanted to make a peace offering to God.  One of his servants wanted to give him the supplies for this offering, but King David insisted on paying him for them.  He said, 2 Samuel 24:24 "No, I insist on paying you for it.  I will not sacrifice to the Lord my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing."

I believe that worship that costs us nothing is not true worship at all.