Friday February 18, 2022

Today is Friday, February 18 and this week we are exploring what the Bible says about counting the costs.

As I enter a time of solitude with God, I slow my breathing and silence a constant stream of distracting thoughts. I endeavor to focus my whole being upon God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Pause and Pray

Precious Lord, you are always with me even though I am often unaware of your abiding presence. Teach me how to pray, to not only speak but also to listen. Show me what it means to count the costs of living a life of deeper discipleship and service in your kingdom. Amen.

I join the ancient people of faith and cry out to God with the words of Psalm 49.

Why should I fear in times of trouble, when the iniquity of my persecutors surrounds me, those who trust in their wealth and boast of the abundance of their riches? Truly, no ransom avails for one’s life, there is no price one can give to God for it. For the ransom of life is costly, and can never suffice. Psalm 49:5-8 NRSV

Pause and Pray

In Old Testament worship, a lamb was offered as a burnt offering each morning and evening for the sins of the people as well as on special feast days. The Passover lamb was to be sacrificed on 14 Nisan (Exodus 12:6,21) and the Passover meal was eaten every year to remember the Exodus, God’s miraculous deliverance of the people of Israel from slavery in Egypt. The lamb killed and eaten on Passover pointed forward to Jesus as the Passover lamb, who God provided to remove our sin by taking it on himself and delivering us from death. John the Baptist announced Jesus as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29). The New Testament writers understood Jesus as the Passover lamb who was slaughtered for our sin. Paul says, “Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed” (1 Corinthians 5:7). On the night before he gave himself up for us, Jesus shared the Passover meal with his disciples.

Then came the day of Unleavened Bread, on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. So Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, “Go and prepare the Passover meal for us that we may eat it.” They asked him, “Where do you want us to make preparations for it?” “Listen,” he said to them, “when you have entered the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you; follow him into the house he enters and say to the owner of the house, ‘The teacher asks you, “Where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?”’ He will show you a large room upstairs, already furnished. Make preparations for us there.” So they went and found everything as he had told them; and they prepared the Passover meal. When the hour came, he took his place at the table, and the apostles with him. He said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.” Luke 22:7-15

Jesus is about to suffer. He knows what the next twenty four hours will bring, betrayal, arrest, sentencing, abandonment, mocking, humiliation, flogging, scourging, crucifixion, death. His suffering and death is for me. The Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. There is a cost for my salvation. There is a cost for my redemption. There is a debt to be paid, a ransom to be satisfied, a price to be met. That price is the sacrificial death of the Son of God paid for the souls of sinners like me. Peter and John go to prepare the Passover meal following Jesus’ instructions about entering Jerusalem, finding the owner of the house, going to the upper room, preparing the meal as it is carefully outlined in Exodus. The hour came. It was time. Jesus takes his place at the table eagerly desiring to eat this last meal with the disciples and giving me a new meal to eat with him, breaking the bread and drinking from the cup of his sacrifice until I am united with him in heaven.

Ask: Have I counted the costs of my sin before God? Who has paid the price of my salvation?

Pause and Pray

Jesus, you are the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Thank you for taking away my sin, even mine. Only you can take what once was scarlet and make it whiter than snow. Forgive me when I underestimate the cost of my salvation and take your grace for granted. Help me comprehend the cost of discipleship and give me courage to live sacrificially in this lifetime. I read the words from Luke again and listen for the message you have for me.

Then came the day of Unleavened Bread, on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. So Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, “Go and prepare the Passover meal for us that we may eat it.” They asked him, “Where do you want us to make preparations for it?” “Listen,” he said to them, “when you have entered the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you; follow him into the house he enters and say to the owner of the house, ‘The teacher asks you, “Where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?”’ He will show you a large room upstairs, already furnished. Make preparations for us there.” So they went and found everything as he had told them; and they prepared the Passover meal. When the hour came, he took his place at the table, and the apostles with him. He said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.” Luke 22:7-15

Ask: What image, word or phrase stands out to me when I slowly read this passage? What is God trying to say to me through these words of scripture?

Pause and Pray

I come to hear what God wants to speak into my life, but sometimes I am not sure I am ready to receive it. I repeat the word of phrase that stands out to me today, I reflect on the images and emotions this particular passage evokes in my soul. What is God stirring up in me? I consider what it would mean for John and Peter to prepare a meal for their fellow disciples. What time was sacrificed to make preparations for the hospitality of others. What risk was taken by the owner of the house who provided the space for Jesus who was wanted by the authorities. Perhaps I relate to one character more than the other. How does this passage inform my current circumstances? How might God want to answer a recent prayer through these words of scripture? What part of my nature might God want to reveal to me through the text? I ponder what difference the Passover Lamb makes in my life today.

Pause and Pray

Jesus, you are my Savior, Redeemer and Friend, I invite you into the upper room of my heart and welcome you to sit at the table of my soul. Come, High Priest of Heaven and dine with me. Open the scriptures and reveal the mysteries of my heavenly Father. Teach me to do your will and obey your commandments. Thank you for your sacrificial love that paid the price for the redemption of my soul. Amen.

Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself. Hebrews 7:27

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. Romans 3:23-25a

I leave this time of prayer thankful for the sacrifice Christ made for me and ready to live a sacrificial life giving myself away for others.

Amen.