“Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.” (Luke 14:27-33, ESV)

Technology is a marvellous thing. It keeps getting better. As it does, we keep upgrading in hopes of improving our productivity. My friend recently upgraded to a new smart phone. She had only owned simple cell phones and had a hard time just adding people to her contact list. Then she decided to upgrade to something even more complex.
When I asked about her new phone, she showed me the picture on the screen. It was beautiful and quite large. I asked how she liked the phone. She told me about all of the features she looked forward to using. It seemed that her phone could do everything.
She asked about my iPhone, and I told her how much I liked it. I told her about the features that I liked the most and the ones I used most often. She told me that her phone could do all of the same things. I thought that she truly loved her new phone and was actually enjoying all of its benefits.
I was wrong. Over the next few weeks, I saw how she struggled with the phone. She couldn’t make it work. She did not know how to use all of the wonderful features. The phone did have a lot of capability, but the user had to know how to use it. The problem was that my friend expected to pick up this complex phone, with many different apps and programs, and use it without any training.
I laughed when I thought about this later. I know that the more complex something is, the more effort we must exert to learn about it. My friend expected to pick up the phone and understand all of its complexity without putting forth any effort. Things just don’t work that way.
It was a powerful lesson for me. I realized that this is often our attitude about living and abiding in Jesus. We come to know Him and trust Him as our personal Savior, and then we expect that the most complex and involved relationship of our lives will be easy. We don’t even think about the effort required.
We certainly should be willing to put in the work. The benefits are enormous. As we take time to get to know the Lord of the Universe in His complexity, we will be better able to function in the program He created. Also, our lives will become more useful. Our time will be better spent. We will not just look pretty on the outside, but will be useful and a blessing. Our ability to reach out and touch others will grow exponentially as we learn about the Source of Power.
Put forth the effort. It will be worth it.

Dear Lord, I am often lazy. I do not count the costs or pick up my cross daily. I am sorry. Help me. I do desire to know you and have a closer relationship with you. I know that any effort I expend will be well worth it.