God called again, “Samuel!” – the third time! Yet again Samuel got up and went to Eli, “Yes? I heard you call me. Here I am.” That’s when it dawned on Eli that God was calling the boy. 1 Samuel 3:8 THE MESSAGE.

“I have manifested Your name to the men whom You gave Me out of the world; they were Yours and You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word. Now they have come to know that everything You have given Me is from You; for the words which You gave Me I have given to them; and they received them and truly understood that I came forth from You, and they believed that You sent Me.” John 17:6-8.

God looked over all He had made, and He saw that it was very good! Genesis 1:31.

And continuing our 351 Old Testament prophecies, promises of God, fulfilled in Jesus Christ, we come to number 133: To speak the Wisdom of God with authority. Psalm 78:2b: I will utter dark sayings of old. And, Matthew 7:29: For He was teaching them as one having authority, and not as their scribes.

This morning in our Friday Zoom retreat we watched a video by John Ortberg about counting the cost of discipleship when Jesus told them that if they loved their family more than Him they were not worthy of being His follower, Matthew 10:37. What do we think is more valuable in our life than Creator God – Father, Son, Spirit? Or likening the treasure in a field over there with God, to the Beverly Hillbillies and Jed finding oil on his land where he had been poor – would he then prefer his poor life he knew? One of our group pointed out we cling to the meager that we know not realizing how much richer is what God is offering us. Another of our group pointed out counting the cost is not a tally sheet of numbers and he wished we could have gone deeper than what a video can show. And that is the beauty of sharing with others so we can go deeper with Scripture.

What about Creator God? Did He count the cost before creating knowing what that cost would be? And look at everything that opened up because He created! Did Jesus count the cost Paul wrote about in Philippians 2:5-11: Have this mind among yourselves – which is yours in Christ Jesus – who, though He was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is LORD, to the glory of God the Father.

We take this life and everything sustaining it for granted. It was given. As we allow ourselves to leave the busyness of this world and truly take in the beauty of creation, including us and our lives, as it unfolds today, how can we help but give thanks? The cost of discipleship could well be asked the cost of not discipleship. What would you give to know God personally? What would you give to not know God personally?

***BE STILL, MY SOUL – Be still, my soul, the LORD is on thy side; bear patiently the cross of grief or pain. Leave to thy God to order and provide; in ev’ry change He faithful will remain. Be still, my soul, thy best, thy heav’nly Friend through thorny ways leads to a joyful end. Be still, my soul, thy God doth undertake to guide the future, as He has the past. Thy hope, thy confidence let nothing shake; all now mysterious shall be bright at last. Be still, my soul, the waves and wind still know His voice who ruled them while He dwelt below. Be still, my soul, the hour is hast’ning on when we shall be forever with the LORD. When disappointment, grief and fear are gone; sorrow forgot, love’s purest joys restored. Be still, my soul, when change and tears are past, all safe and blessed we shall meet at last. Kathrina von Schlegel, “Be Still, My Soul,” 1752, trans. Jane Borthwick, 1855.***