Description
SNAPSHOTS OF THE SAVIOR
Warning Labels
Ed Young
March 20-21, 2004
[On stage are several products that promise positive results on the packaging, yet have some serious warning labels or fine print that is not as visible to the consumer.]
I think it’s rather humorous to look at some of the marketing strategies that people use in order to sell products. For example, the Ab Swing. You might have seen the Ab Swing in one of the local stores. This Ab Swing makes some pretty big claims like, “Lose up to two inches in just fourteen days.” It says it’s the original Ab Swing, the ultimate abs and lean body design system. You can target the lower abs, the upper abs, the side obliques. Wow! And women would look at this and see Hunter Tilo, actress, model, and mother of four, and women would say to themselves, “Wow, if I buy the Ab Swing, I can look like Hunter Tilo!” Well, maybe with a lot of cosmetic surgery. I don’t know. Looks good. Looks easy. Ab Swing.
Well, I did some research on the Ab Swing. And yeah, these claims are sort of right, but they kind of tell you the up side and not the down side. There’s a down side to the Ab Swing, and it’s buried in this Ab Swing User Guide. I thought I’d read you just an excerpt of it. On the last page it says, “Lean Body Design Program Fourteen-Day Meal Plan.” In other words, for you to lose two inches, you have to go on this starvation diet for fourteen days. They don’t tell you that on the front. They just show you Hunter Tilo and the Ab Swing, and you say, “Wow, I can do it!” But there’s more to it than that, and I think you’re old enough and mature enough to understand that.
Snackwells. Do you like Snackwells? Good stuff. I love Snackwells. And here’s what’s so crazy about Snackwells. It says, “Snackwells Devil’s Food Cookie Cakes Are Fat-Free.” So I’m thinking to myself, “I can just hammer these things! I can just—gulp, gulp—eat them left and right. I’m not going to gain any weight. No big deal, because they’re fat-free.” Well, let’s look at the nutritional facts buried on the back of the box. It says there are fifty calories per cookie, per devil’s food cookie cake. So if you eat ten of them, well…. You do the math. They’re packed with sugar and those evil complex carbohydrates.
What else do we have? Sweet and Low. Do you like Sweet and Low? Order some iced tea, coffee, or maybe another beverage of choice. Add Sweet and Low, “sweet granulated sugar substitute,” it says. But, if you see here, the warning label is in red ink on the pink package. It’s very difficult to read. I can read it, though, because I’ve had Lasik [surgery]. Check it out: “Use of this product may be hazardous to your health. This product contains saccharin, which has been determined to cause cancer in laboratory animals.” Sweet and Low.
Advil. This is the allergy season. You say, “I have a headache. My head’s killing me.” So you pop some Advil. Well, I tracked down the warning label. It’s on the back in small writing. “May cause,” it says, “a severe allergic reaction which may include hives, asthma, facial swelling, or shock.”
There’s more. Pam—“All natural, 100% extra virgin olive oil cooking spray for fat-free cooking.” Sounds pretty good. Looks pretty good. We like Pam. On the back, though, “Warning: Use only as directed. Intentional misuse by deliberately concentrating and inhaling the contents can be harmful or fatal.” You’ve got to read those warning labels.
Oh, this is cool. Xenadrine EFX—“Clinically proven, ephedrine-free, rapid fat loss catalyst.” Maybe that’s what this young lady [on the box] used, but there are some warnings in very, very small print. Listen to the warnings of this stuff. This is unbelievable. Okay. “Keep out of reach of children. Not intend for persons under eighteen years of age. Do not use if you are pregnant of nursing or at risk of or being treated for high blood pressure, heart disease, cardiac arrhythmia, hyperthyroidism, spasms, glaucoma, psychiatric disease, psychological condition, suffer migraines or are allergic to triamine or chocolate, have a known or suspected hypersensitivity to caffeine, have asthma or are taking asthma medication.” Unbelievable!
Marketers, though, they know how to play the up side and say, “Yeah, here’s what it does for you.” And they know how to play down the down side, kind of the negative stuff. Marketers know how to do that, and we buy that. We’re into that. But most of us here are pretty savvy. We’re pretty discerning. We’ve learned to look past all of the claims and the promises, and we read the warning labels. We know what we’re buying. We know what we’re getting. I think it would be pretty interesting, though, if all these people gave the warning labels and the down side as equal billing as the up side. Wouldn’t that be funny? Do you think we’d buy as much stuff? I don’t know. I doubt it.
One of the most amazing things about Jesus is the fact that not only did he talk about the up side of Christianity, the up side of following him, the good stuff, but he also talked about the down side of following him—the complications, the sacrifices. And here’s what really crazy. He gave the up side and the down side equal billing. He put warning label after warning label all over his teachings, all over the stuff that he talked about, which is something countercultural in our day. It was also countercultural in his day as well.
Why did Jesus do this? Why? Jesus, I believe, wants us to make decisions based on all of the data, all of the information. Jesus wants us to know what we’re doing before we step over the line.
Have you ever been in a situation spiritually where you said to yourself, “You know God has just answered my prayer. I’m going to follow Him. I’m going to buy in. God, take it all. Tax, title, and license.” Or maybe you just saw the movie “The Passion,” and you’re like, “This is incredible. I’m ready to step over the line. I’m ready to follow you.” Or maybe you’ve heard one of our singers, Rob Johnson or Yanci, sing a solo and thought, “Oh, that was so moving.” You’re so emotional and you feel this state of euphoria and you say, “I’m going to follow the Lord!”
But Jesus warns us. Jesus said, “Okay. That’s fine and dandy. That’s cool. That’s great. But consider what you’re doing. Think about what you’re doing. There’s an up side, but there are also complications.” There is success as you live in God’s will. Also, there is some serious sacrifice that you’re going to have to make as you walk and as you believe and as you discover what it means to be a disciple of Christ.”
Here is the deal about Christianity. The moment we invite Jesus Christ to come into our lives, what happens? He becomes Lord, Number One. He runs the show of your life and mine. If Jesus, though, is not Lord of all, then he’s not Lord at all. If Jesus is not Lord of all, he’s not Lord at all. And today we’re going to talk about that very issue.
Today I’m going to sit down on this stool, if I can, and I’m going to talk to you about the warning labels of the Christian life. I’m going to frame for you about five warning labels that Jesus gave his potential followers. Maybe you’re thinking about becoming a Christ follower. Maybe you’re thinking about stepping over the line. Maybe you’re thinking about praying the prayer to invite Jesus into your life. I would encourage you to do so. It is the greatest thing you will ever do, but I’ve got to show you what Jesus said about this decision. I want you to know what you’re doing. Why? Because Jesus wants us to know what we’re doing. So, having said all of that, let’s talk about some of these warning labels.
As many of you know, I’m in a series of talks called “Passion – Snapshots of the Savior.” During our time together, we’ve talked about the fact that Jesus is passionate about being a servant, he’s passionate about identifying with us, and he’s passionate about teaching. Last week, Mike Johnson stepped in. He talked about the fact that Jesus is passionate about the local church. Well, today we’re going to find out that Jesus is passionate about lordship.
I’ll say it once again. If Jesus is not Lord of all, he’s not Lord at all. And that is what he was driving at as he put these big honking warning labels on every talk, on every interchange he gave to a bunch of people. Jesus did not talk about health and wealth and success and God’s will and forgiveness and grace and mercy and then under his breath say, “By the way, there will be a couple sacrifices.” No, he didn’t do that. He said, “Here’s the up side. Here’s the down side. Here’s the success of the Christian life. Here’s the sacrifice.”
WARNING: FAILURE TO READ DIRECTIONS WILL CAUSE EXTREME EMBARRASSMENT
Warning label number 1: Failure To Read Directions Will Cause Extreme Embarrassment. Here’s the story. In Luke, Chapter 14, the crowds were pressing in on Jesus. Many were traveling with him, the miracle worker, the man of the hour. People couldn’t get enough of Jesus. Jesus began to talk about discipleship. He began to talk about lordship. He began to talk about this thing that we’re talking about. Let’s pick up what was happening in Verse 25.
[Luke 14:25] “Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them He said…” Now, he’s going to thin the ranks out here. He’s going to raise the bar, as he did time and time again. He said, in Luke 14:26, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate…” Ed, is that a misprint? Just stay with me. Chill. [the verse continues] “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be My disciple.”
Hate? Well, the word “hate” in the original language means “love less.” I’m to love my spouse less than I love Jesus, if I’m a Christ follower. I’m to love my kids and to love my job less than I love Jesus. Love less. All other love is like hatred in comparison. That is the suggestion here of this verse. So Jesus just says right up front, “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate (or love less) his father, mother, wife, children, brother, sisters, yes, even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.” Then He throws another wrench in the whole deal. Look at Luke 14:27. He says, “And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow Me cannot be My disciple.”
Now, we’ve seen a beautiful, beautiful movie, a very powerful movie, a gruesome movie called “The Passion.” Most of us have seen it. “The Passion” is about the last 12 hours of Christ, and it shows Jesus carrying that cross—a brutal thing, a horrendous thing.
When Christ talked about people carrying crosses, everyone in this audience knew what he was talking about because when the Romans would crucify someone, they would make this someone carry the cross. What did it signify? Why did the Romans do that? Because it showed a person was under submission, under Roman submission. Every day as believers, we carry a cross. We die to self, we die to our ambitions, to our dreams, to our agenda, to our deal, to our pleasure and we say, “Jesus Christ, I give you everything. I’m yours. You show me what to do.” It’s part of discipleship. Because if Jesus is not Lord of all, He’s not Lord at all.
And I’m sure at this time, his listeners didn’t really understand what he was saying. They probably thought, “Wait a minute, Jesus. Hating my father and mother? Then carrying the cross? What are you talking about?” Well, Jesus being the master storyteller then threw in two stories about this subject matter, and I’ll paraphrase right quick. He told the story about a guy who was going to build a tower. Christ said, “A person wouldn’t go out and just start building a tower, because if he didn’t count the cost, if he didn’t do the estimates, he might get halfway through the project and go, ‘Man, I’m an idiot! I didn’t count the cost. I didn’t get bids. I guess I’ll just leave this half-built tower.’ And people throughout the guy’s life would go, ‘Man, have you lost your brain? You started building that without counting the cost? That’s ridiculous!’”
Then Christ told another story about a king. He said, “This king would not just march into battle. This king would not just look at another king and go, ‘Let’s get ready to rumble!’ He wouldn’t do that. The king would count the cost. He would see how powerful his armies were. He would see how much stuff he had, how much ammo he had. He would play that against what the other guy had. Then he would go into battle. Because if he didn’t count the cost, he might have to bolt during the middle of the battle.”
Jesus said, “Hey, potential followers, hey, would-be disciples, you’ve got to count the cost before you follow me. You’ve got to count the cost.” Jesus wanted to keep potential followers from those embarrassing defections that would occur later. He wanted them to know up front the warning label. Warning: Failure To Read Directions Will Cause Extreme Embarrassment. He wanted to spare us from the embarrassment of going, “Wow, I didn’t understand the fine print. Wow! I didn’t understand the warning labels. Wow! I didn’t understand the manual of this stuff. This Christianity stuff is more than I thought. Man, I didn’t sign up for all this.”
Look at Luke 14:33. Christ summarized this whole thing. He said, “In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be My disciple.” What does it mean to become a disciple of Jesus? We’ve got to ask him to come into our lives. Basically, it means giving up everything to him. This verse tells us that’s what a disciple is—giving up everything, giving up everything. And that’s lordship. That’s Jesus being number one in every single area.
WARNING: CONTENTS WILL BE HAZARDOUS TO YOURSELF
Here’s a second warning. Warning number 2: Contents Will Be Hazardous To Yourself. I’m discovering that more and more as I walk with Christ. The contents of Christianity are hazardous to self.
Here’s a story. In Luke, Chapter 9, Jesus is going to talk to three guys. This first guy does something that is very tempting for all of us. He just blurts out, “Jesus, I’ll follow you wherever you go. I’m in. Man, you’re a winner. All this great stuff: forgiveness and mercy and you heal the sick! Man, I’m in. Count me in. I’m not just a tire-kicker. I’m a buyer, Lord.”
Now at this moment, a lot of us could identify with this, as I said earlier. A lot of us after this, after a spiritual high or after an emotional time we go, “I’m ready. I want to jump in and fellowship at a church where many people could show up and you could experience the Lord through video and singing, your kids could have age-appropriate teaching, you could be involved in all this stuff.” It’s very easy for people to say, “Yeah, I want to sign up, man. I feel good. I feel it. Yeah! Fellowship Church.”
But wait. Hold up. Think about it for a second. Warning: Contents Will Be Hazardous To Yourself. You know what Christ told this guy? Christ’s response to this guys is really unique. He didn’t give him a high five and go, “Yeah, man. Great! You want to follow me? Come on. Yes, sir.” He didn’t say that. He started talking about animals. He said in Luke 9:58 (NLT), “Foxes have dens to live in, and birds have nests, but I, the Son of Man, have no home of my own, not even a place to lay my head.”
Kind of different, isn’t it? What was going on there? Why did Jesus say that? Well, he was not saying that he was dirt poor. I’ll tell you that. You know what he was saying? He was saying, “I’m the Son of God. I’m the Messiah. There’s some serious sacrificing on. There’s an up side but also some down sides, some tough stuff, some commitment type stuff. So before you follow me, you’d better realize what you’re saying. I’m the leader, and I’m an itinerant preacher and teacher, so just think about it. Just for a second.”
Those here who are believers, just for a second, think about your life before you became a Christ follower. Just for a second. Remember your morality? Because your morality before you became a Christ follower was pretty much based on your view of life. You said to yourself, “You know, I’m a lot better than him. Yes, she’s better than me, but I’m better than him. So I’m just going to hang out in the middle of the moral pack. I’ll do kind of what I feel like doing. I’m not going to be that bad, but I’m not going to be that good either. You know, boys will be boys. Girls will be girls. A little carnality here, a little immorality there—no big deal. I’m just kind of in the middle of the moral pack.”
Well, once you become a Christ follower, things change. Now you become sin-sensitive. Things that used to not bother you begin to bother you. The Holy Spirit begins to tweak your conscious and, “Whoa! I shouldn’t have said that. And I shouldn’t have thought that. I can’t believe I did that.” Sin-sensitive. That’s going to happen once you become a Christ follower. You will have your entire material possessions changed and reoriented once you become a believer. It’s just going to happen to you. Prior to becoming a Christ follower, your stuff was your stuff. You thought, “My money’s my money. I want to buy that house, and if I can afford it, I’ll buy it. I want to buy the car. If I can afford it, I’ll buy it. Clothes, trips, whatever. I’m going to do what I want to do with my money. It’s mine.”
But once you become a Christian, what happens is you realize something unique—that you don’t own a thing, that you’re just a manger. An important manager, but you’re a manger. You’re a steward of what God has given you. So your stuff is not your stuff anymore. It never was. But now you realize it’s not. You know?
So when you close a deal, when you’re paid or whatever, there’s a test, 24/7. Is Jesus Lord of all or not? Is he Lord or not? We either give him the minimum worship requirement, which is 10% right off the top or not. We’re either generous or not.
Compassion. Prior to becoming a Christ follower we might say, “Oh, I don’t like that person’s skin color. They’re from the wrong side of the tracks or another country or blah, blah, blah. I don’t like them, you know. I just like people like me.” Once you become a Christian, though—whoa! We’ve never locked eyes with someone who does not matter to God. I don’t care what they look like, where they’re from, what their skin color is, what their background is, what their zip code is, what they drive or don’t drive, or where or not. That’s just the way it is. Things change, and it makes it kind of complex.
How about relationally? If you’re single, lift your hand. Junior high or high school student, twenty-, thirty-something, forty-something, seventy-something who’s single. Okay…single. Once a single person steps over the line and says, “Jesus come into my life. I receive you.” Once he becomes Lord, number one of your life, singles, you know what the Bible says? That you’re only to date and to marry other Christ followers. That’s what the Bible says. I didn’t say it. The Bible says it. So as a Christ follower, if you believe that and live that, suddenly two-thirds of the potential candidates for you to date and marry have been wiped out. There’s going to be some sacrifices and some commitments and some tough stuff along the way. I’m just going to tell you from God’s word.
How about forgiveness? Prior to becoming a Christian, if you messed someone around, well, too bad. They got what they deserved. Or may someone messed you around. And you say, “Man, I’ll get you back. I’ll get you back!” Now you’re a believer. If you do something against your spouse, your friend, or someone else, the Bible says because you have the ministry of reconciliation in your life that you are to go (and the Holy Spirit gives us the strength to do that) and make the relationship right. You’re to ask for forgiveness. It’s complex. I’m telling you. It takes some sacrifice, some stuff, some commitment. Jesus gave it equal billing, though.
Excellence is something else. Christians have a higher calling of excellence than anyone else. Prior to being a Christ follower you do just enough to get by. Now, you’re a believer. You’re doing things for the glory of God. I don’t care if you’re a mother of two toddlers, you’re changing diapers for the glory of God. You’re cleaning your house for the glory of God. You’re doing yard work for the glory of God. You’re running to a board meeting for the glory of God. You’re preaching sermons for the glory of God. You’re cleaning teeth for the glory of God. You’re teaching students for the glory of God. Excellence. This is getting convicting.
WARNING: PROCRASTINATION IS HARMFUL IF SWALLOWED
Let’s go to the third warning label. Warning: Procrastination Is Harmful If Swallowed. In Luke, Chapter 9, there’s another guy that Christ goes one-on-one with. And here’s what Jesus said to this guy. What an opportunity! Look at Luke 9:59: “He said to another man, ‘Follow Me.’ But the man replied, ‘Lord, first let me go and bury my father.’”
Now, this sounds reasonable. “Let me go bury Daddy.” Well, here’s the deal. If you read and study the text you learn that Daddy was still alive. Daddy was not on his deathbed. Daddy was healthy. He was like Jack La Lanne, juicing every day. He had 10 or 15 years before he would clock out. So what was this guy saying to Jesus? This guy was—watch this now—he was using his father as an excuse to put off following Christ. “Ah, yeah, sounds good, Jesus, following you. It sounds like a really cool thing. But Daddy, I have got take care of him.”
What’s your excuse? Are you putting off the best decision you could ever make and are you giving God some weak excuse? What’s your excuse? Because so many of us are caught in the some day syndrome. We say, “Some day, I’ll get my life right. Some day, I’ll step over the line. Some day, Jesus, I’ll make you Lord. Some day, some day, some day.”
I think about another man in the Bible, a blind beggar named Bartimaeus. He was begging and he heard all of the people surrounding Jesus, and he began to scream for Jesus to have mercy on him. And people told him to shut up, I’m sure. But Jesus heard him. He turned, healed him, and saved him. What if Bartimaeus had said to himself, “You know I’m blind and I’m a beggar. There are people all over Jesus. I hear them. So I’ll just wait for another time. I’ll just wait for a more convenient time, because surely he’ll come by again. He’ll come through my town again.” If you know your Bible, you’ll know that’s the last time Jesus ever came through Bartimaeus’ town.
Who knows? Maybe today is the last time you’ll have an opportunity to make this choice. So don’t get caught in the some day syndrome. Because saying, “Some day…some day…some day,” could lead you to a Christ-less eternity. Our Lord does not hurl anybody to hell. We make that choice. And hell is the place where we get a greater measure of what we signed up for in this life. If we push Christ off, if we did the Heisman trophy stance, the stiff arm our entire lives, then once we stand before him, he’ll say, “You pushed me away during this life. Now you will have an eternal pushback in hell.” And that’s what hell is. Hell is a real place. Christ talked about it a lot.
WARNING: INDECISEIVENESS WILL CAUSE SERIOUS SIDE EFFECTS
Let’s go to the fourth warning label: Indecisiveness Will Cause Serious Side Effects. Indecisiveness will cause serious side effects. We’re still in Luke, Chapter 9. Another guy and Jesus have this conversation. Look at Luke 9:61: “Still another said, ‘I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say good bye to my family.’” And what did Jesus say? [Luke 9:62] “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”
What was going on here? You say to yourself, “That sounds normal. A guy wants to go back, have a farewell party and then….” But that’s not what’s going on here. You know what this guy wanted to do? He wanted to take a vote. He wanted to decide by parliamentary procedure if he should or should not follow Christ. He thought, “Hey, this Christianity thing sounds cool, but first let me go talk to Papa and Mama and first let me say good-bye to Aunt Susie and Deacon Billy and pet Scooby, the dog. And if they all say, ‘Yeah, you should become a Christ follower,’ I’ll follow you, Lord. But if they do the thumbs down, I’m not going there.”
That’s what the guy was doing. Jesus read his mail. He said, “Today is the day. Be decisive. If you put your hand to the plow, don’t look back,” Christ said.
It’s amazing; I talk to so many people in their twenties, thirties, forties, fifties, sixties, and they’re thinking about stepping over the line of faith. They’re thinking about making Jesus Lord of their lives. Yet they say, “Well, I don’t know, because Dad is kind of against it and Mom was brought up, you know, Baptist, Church of Christ, or Catholic. She’s not sure. I have a Jewish background or whatever.” And I’m saying to myself, “Man, you don’t get it.”
Let me explain to you what the Bible says. The Bible says there will be a day of reckoning. In other words, I will stand before God alone. You will stand before God alone, not with Papa, not with Mama, not with Aunt Susie or Deacon Bob or Pastor Ed or Scooby, the dog. It’ll be you alone with the Lord. And we’ll each have to give an account of our lives. And those of us, by God’s grace and mercy who have appropriated what Christ did for us on the cross, we’re in. We’re believers. We’re saved. We’re justified and sanctified and all of that. Those who have not? Man, they’re in some eternal, deep weeds. Indecisiveness. If you conducted a poll with your friends and family whether or not you should step over the line, some will say, “Yeah, go for it.” And others will say, “I don’t know.” But if you’re waiting for everyone to go, “Yeah! Great for you! Yes, you need to follow Christ.” It’s not going to happen.
WARNING: CONTENTS UNDER PRESSURE
And that brings us to the fifth and final warning label. Warning: Contents Under Pressure. Contents under pressure. Here’s what Jesus said in Luke 12:51, “Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division.” Is Christ applauding himself saying, “I came to bring division?” No! He’s keeping it real. He’s saying, “I am a divisive God.” If you don’t think so, look at the reaction over this movie “The Passion.” Talk about Jesus being divisive! Some people are like, “Yeah, this is awesome, incredible!” Other people? This past week The New York Times and The LA Times gave the movie a thumbs down.
Jesus will get in people’s face, and he convicts us and he shows us our sinfulness. And a lot of people don’t dig it, so they lash out. Because usually, our first reaction when someone confronts us or calls us to the carpet is what? We lash out at them. So Jesus is all about division, because we’re sinners and he cuts us to the core.
If you keep reading in Luke 12:52, “From now on there will be five in one family divided against each other, three against two and two against three.” You’re not going to be the most popular person when you step over the line. You’re not. You don’t get invited to all the parties. People will call you names, laugh at you. It’s just going to happen. So I want you to know what you’re signing up for before you do it. And so did Jesus Christ. If Jesus is not Lord of all, he’s not Lord at all.
Please don’t get me wrong. I’ve walked with Christ for thirty-some-odd years now. And every sacrifice, every commitment, every hard thing that I’ve gone through and done for his glory has been worth it. Listen to me. Jesus never asked us to sacrifice just for sacrifice sake. Never. He never said, “Sacrifice. And just sacrifice because you need to sacrifice.” No, every time he calls us to sacrifice, it’s because there’s greatness out there waiting for you and for me in every realm of our existence. There’s greatness out there.
Go through the list I talked about earlier. Morality. As you live a holy life before God, you’ll have a clean and clear conscious. You’ll have a purity that words cannot describe. Is morality worth it? Yes.
Forgiveness. Live knowing that you’re reconciled to God through Christ and to others. Make sure that you don’t have any problems with people, that you don’t have any people you’re afraid to look at in the eye. There’s just nothing like it. You can’t put a price tag on it.
Possessions. Give a bunch of stuff away every time you’re paid, every time you make something. There’s freedom to it because it slaps the money monster and it takes away that grip of greed that can choke the life out of you and me.
Excellence. Every time we raise the bar, every time we do something for the glory of God, it is worth it. We feel God’s approval and we know we’re doing it, and we know people are watching it and going, “Wow, there’s something different about him or her.”
Compassion. Every time I get outside of myself, every time you get outside of yourself, we grow and mature and we’re on the fast track to become those true disciples.
So every sacrifice is worth it. I don’t want this to be a doggy downer or anything. “Oh, man, no!” But, you’ve got to understand the warning labels. You’ve got to know what’s out there.
So where are you right now, really? Just between you and God, where are you? Are you kicking tires or are you buying? I challenge you to make Jesus Christ Lord, because he wants to be Lord of your all.