Have you ever pondered the cost?  For example, what does it cost to gain a true friend?  OR  What might it cost to have room in your heart for children?  COST.  It does cost something to gain what you did not previously have, and it does cost something to receive what you could never afford.

Consider the death of Jesus Christ.  Yes, stay there for a moment to really see the passion, the mockery of a trial, the scourging and flogging by the soldiers, the spittle flying out of their mouths to land on the face of the Savior.  See the blood run down the cheeks of Jesus as the crown of thorns planted deep into His skull breaks the skin and allows His blood to freely flow.  Yet, do not stop there.  See also the humiliation of His nakedness as the soldiers stripped Him, tortured Him, and then in mockery placed a scarlet robe on his body and a cane pole in His hand, laughing at Jesus’ scepter, this Jesus, the King of the Jews.  Hear the fists land on the body of Jesus, falling over and over onto His already bleeding and mangled flesh, fulfilling the prophecy written in the Old Testament.

When contemplating the divine cost, it’s apparent:  Believers are of immense value to God.  The price paid was not with earthly value (silver and gold) and the redemption, the ransom, the buying back restores those who first did not believe but who now Do Believe that Jesus is the Christ (the Messiah sent by God) and that Jesus is the only way to return to fellowship with God, the only truth to a right relationship with the Father, and the only life eternal that will remain from everlasting to everlasting.

• Humanity was aimless (futile), and now the believers in Jesus are ransomed.
• Humanity was dying (perishing), and now the believers are imperishable in Christ.

Mankind was walking the path to death, and now “with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ” believers are bought back, ransomed, and redeemed.

What’s totally amazing is how some do not regard ‘the purchase’ as something to be gained.  &

What can hardly be fathomed is that some do not wish to be redeemed but wish to remain in their ”futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, . . .”

Consider the death of Jesus Christ.  Ponder the cost.  Quietly reflect on the cost to gain a true friend, to be a friend of Christ.  &  Dig deep into your being, for one must drastically dismiss the innate desire within you to become a child of God.

• THERE WAS A COST.  &
• THERE WAS A PRICE TO BE PAID.

Today is Memorial Day, a time set aside, not just for an extra day away from work, nor a day for bar-b-ques or camping or even for just the decoration of graves (although this action is terribly important as we remember those soldiers who gave their lives for our freedoms we enjoy).

Memorial Day also gives us pause to memorialize, to recall, and to praise God for His Salvation.  We were purchased through the blood of Jesus Christ, the ultimate Hero, the Son of God, who willingly laid aside His life and bought our freedom from bondage in sin, rescuing us from the darkness of eternal death.

Close your eyes in prayer.  Examine your heart.  Consider the response you have personally given to Jesus the Savior.  Yes, most definitely, realize—

• It did cost something to gain what you did not previously have—ETERNAL LIFE.  &
• It did cost something to receive what you could never afford—GOD’S PRESENCE FOR ALL ETERNITY.

Thank You, Jesus, for willingly laying aside your life to purchase our freedom from sin and death.