Notes:
The Progression of Paying the Price:
- God will give you a dream
- You’ll discover the price to pay
- You need to decide if you’ll pay the price
25 A large crowd was following Jesus. He turned around and said to them, 26 “If you want to be my disciple, you must, by comparison, hate everyone else—your father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even your own life. Otherwise, you cannot be my disciple. 27 And if you do not carry your own cross and follow me, you cannot be my disciple.
28 “But don’t begin until you count the cost. For who would begin construction of a building without first calculating the cost to see if there is enough money to finish it? 29 Otherwise, you might complete only the foundation before running out of money, and then everyone would laugh at you. 30 They would say, ‘There’s the person who started that building and couldn’t afford to finish it!’ -Luke 14:25-30
Dream: Be a disciple
Price to Pay: Hate everything else in comparison with following God
Your Choice: Count the Cost & Pay It
David
The Price of Watching the Sheep and Goats (Obscurity) I Samuel 16
6 When they arrived, Samuel took one look at Eliab and thought, “Surely this is the Lord’s anointed!”7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Don’t judge by his appearance or height, for I have rejected him. The Lord doesn’t see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”
8 Then Jesse told his son Abinadab to step forward and walk in front of Samuel. But Samuel said, “This is not the one the Lord has chosen.” 9 Next Jesse summoned Shimea,[a] but Samuel said, “Neither is this the one the Lord has chosen.” 10 In the same way all seven of Jesse’s sons were presented to Samuel. But Samuel said to Jesse, “The Lord has not chosen any of these.” 11 Then Samuel asked, “Are these all the sons you have?”
“There is still the youngest,” Jesse replied. “But he’s out in the fields watching the sheep and goats.”
Obscurity = the state of being unknown, inconspicuous, or unimportant.
I Corinthains 15:58 – 58 So, my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and immovable. Always work enthusiastically for the Lord, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless.
- I used to think you had to be special for God to use you, but now I know you simply need to say yes. -Bob Goff
Psalm 105:19 – Until the time came to fulfill his dreams, the Lord tested Joseph’s character.
“Send for him at once,” Samuel said. “We will not sit down to eat until he arrives.”12 So Jesse sent for him. He was dark and handsome, with beautiful eyes.And the Lord said, “This is the one; anoint him.”13 So as David stood there among his brothers, Samuel took the flask of olive oil he had brought and anointed David with the oil. And the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon David from that day on. Then Samuel returned to Ramah. I Samuel 16:6-13
- If you’re not faithful in the little leagues, God will never call you up to the big leagues. -Larry Bettencourt
The Price of Developing Your Gifts
14 Now the Spirit of the Lord had left Saul, and the Lord sent a tormenting spirit[b]that filled him with depression and fear. 15 Some of Saul’s servants said to him, “A tormenting spirit from God is troubling you. 16 Let us find a good musician to play the harp whenever the tormenting spirit troubles you. He will play soothing music, and you will soon be well again.”17 “All right,” Saul said. “Find me someone who plays well, and bring him here. 18 One of the servants said to Saul, “One of Jesse’s sons from Bethlehem is a talented harp player. Not only that—he is a brave warrior, a man of war, and has good judgment. He is also a fine-looking young man, and the Lord is with him.”’
“When David took harp lessons as a kid, he never imagined that those lessons would someday position him as a member of King Saul’s court! As he practiced slinging a stone while tending sheep, it never crossed his mind that this skill set would catapult him into the national limelight. When he was writing psalms in a cave, he had no idea that billions of people would be reading them.”
Just because something isn’t part of your life plan, doesn’t mean it’s not part of God’s plan. God is working His good, pleasing, and perfect plan for your life in a thousand ways you aren’t even aware of. Everything in your past is preparation for something in your future. God wastes nothing. Even when you have a setback, God has already prepared your comeback. The God who works all things together for good will leverage every experience, every skill, every mistake, and every bit of knowledge you have acquired! -Mark Batterson
What reputation are you building?
- I Timothy 4:12 12 Don’t let anyone think less of you because you are young. Be an example to all believers in what you say, in the way you live, in your love, your faith, and your purity.
Strive to be a young man or woman of God who is an example, who others can see that the Lord is with you, that does everything with excellence!
What happened as a result of David’s Development?
19 So Saul sent messengers to Jesse to say, “Send me your son David, the shepherd.” 20 Jesse responded by sending David to Saul, along with a young goat, a donkey loaded with bread, and a wineskin full of wine.
- 16 A man’s gift maketh room for him, and bringeth him before great men. -Proverbs 18:16
- This will happen in your life!
21 So David went to Saul and began serving him. Saul loved David very much, and David became his armor bearer.
The Price of Serving Someone Else’s Vision
- 10 “If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones. But if you are dishonest in little things, you won’t be honest with greater responsibilities. 11 And if you are untrustworthy about worldly wealth, who will trust you with the true riches of heaven? 12 And if you are not faithful with other people’s things, why should you be trusted with things of your own? -Luke 16:10-12
22 Then Saul sent word to Jesse asking, “Please let David remain in my service, for I am very pleased with him.”
- Do the Godly leaders you are serving thank God that you’re on their team?
23 And whenever the tormenting spirit from God troubled Saul, David would play the harp. Then Saul would feel better, and the tormenting spirit would go away.
The Price of Killing Lions and Bears
32 David said to Saul, “Let no man’s heart fail on account of him; your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.” 33 Then Saul said to David, “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for you are but a youth while he has been a warrior from his youth.”
34 But David said to Saul, “Your servant was tending his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and took a lamb from the flock, 35 I went out after him and [r]attacked him, and rescued it from his mouth; and when he rose up against me, I seized him by his beard and [s]struck him and killed him. 36 Your servant has [t]killed both the lion and the bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, since he has taunted the armies of the living God.” 37 And David said, “The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” And Saul said to David, “Go, and may the Lord be with you.” -I Samuel 17:32-37
What are your lions and bears?
37 And David said, “The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.”
In closing:
- God’s dream to you is free, but in order to see it come to pass there will be a price to pay. There are many prices to pay in life, a few of them are:
- The price of being ok with obscurity… David realized that it was God, not others who determines his Destiny!
- The price of developing your gift… David realized that through developing the gifts put in Him, God would open doors nobody else could open
- The price of serving other people’s vision . . . David realized that through serving others vision, it enabled him to be a great leader for his people in the future…
- The price of slaying your lions and bears . . . David realized that God will fight his battles with Him and he didn’t have to fight alone, after a few wins under his belt, he determined that the same God that helped him overcome the battles in the beginning of his journey, helped him overcome bigger battles later in his journey!
I hope I’ve provided a roadmap for prices to be paid. PAY THE PRICE! IT’s worth it!
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