Without Cost

“Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, drive out demons. Without cost you have received; without cost you are to give.” Matthew 10:8

I stood up and spoke about Jesus for one hour. It is still very vivid in my mind. This is the time when my leader asked me to do a gospel presentation in-front of college freshmen in a classroom. I could not believe I preached about the saving grace of the Lord Jesus as I have not studied these things nor was not trained to do so. That’s when I realized, I have received God’s gifts, without cost, so I can serve Him and His people without cost. Through the years, God bestowed more noteworthy Christian service to me; building and organizing communities, pastoral care of individuals, training brothers and sisters for His kingdom. I was doing spectacular things for the Lord, just like what the disciples were commanded to do in Matthew 10:8.

No time and money has significant cost for me not to serve God. What is taking costly for me is my pride. I am a new member attending a charismatic community in the USA, often times I am called to lead a short prayer, tasked to clean the place of fellowship or initiate to arrange things before and after the meetings. I know I can do a lot of things for the Lord and I won’t expect something from it, but sometimes my pride takes charge in me that I discriminate the minute services assigned to me, which I believe are part of God’s great work. I realized that I have received from the Lord without cost, and no matter how my self-importance exalts me; I must serve and give my all to God without counting the cost even at the expense of my human pride.