Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He also has
rejected you from being king. - 1 Samuel 15:23
According to The Blunder Book by M. Hirsh Goldberg, the company that won the bid to
construct the 100 miles of track for the Washington, DC, subway system projected the cost
to be $793 million. When the job was completed, however, it cost $6.6 billion. Goldberg
said the same company that built the subway received a contract to build the Saudi Arabian
city of Jubail. The initial estimate was $9 billion. But when the project was finished,
the bill came to $45 billion. That's a cost overrun of $36 billion!
These unexpected construction expenses are of little significance, however, compared with
the unexpected costs of our sins against God. The life of King Saul shows us the enormous
price of disobedience. He never figured that his continued willfulness and stubborn pride
would eventually cost him his honor, his family, his friends, his influence for good, and
his fellowship with God. He lost it all. He failed to see it coming when he decided to
keep a few bleating sheep for his own pleasure and spare a wicked monarch (1 Samuel
15:14-15, 20-21). But these were costly acts of disobedience.
Father, help us to count the inevitable cost of failing to trust You today. And help us to
remember the enormous price Christ paid on the cross for us.
-MRDII
Sin's pleasures have such great appeal,
They always look like bargains rare;
But seldom do we clearly see
The hidden costs that we must bear.
-D. De Haan
Sin adds to your trouble, subtracts from your energy, and multiplies your
difficulties.