Calculating the cost. There is a delightful word picture of a property developer, a Bible-times building tycoon in Luke's Gospel, chapter 14 and verse 28. Jesus gives some good advice to anyone contemplating such a task: "If any of you wanted to build a tower, wouldn't you first sit down and work out the cost of it, to see if you can afford to finish it?"

A hole in the ground always seems to attract a great deal of attention, and I am attracted to such a hole as much as anyone! Once my urge to peer into it and discover what is going on 'down there' is satisfied, then I can go happily on my way. They do say that one of the most expensive holes in the world was in Sydney, Australia. It was an enormous hole right in the heart of the city; a huge building was to have been built there but, after work had started and a crater had been dug, the firm of developers went broke and the work ceased, leaving just the hole in the ground.

What Jesus is saying is this: before you start to build, estimate what it is going to cost you. Otherwise the world will laugh at you and say: "There's the man who started to build and couldn't finish." Probably the most dangerous time in the life of Christ was when great crowds were following him and everyone appeared to be jumping on the bandwagon, without giving much thought to what being a follower of Jesus Christ would involve.

One of the biggest threats to Christianity is often the 'good things of life'. There is nothing wrong with having an abundance of goods and possessions... a good name or reputation, but when these things take priority over everything else then they become rival 'gods' to Christ in our lives. Too many Christians drop away from Christ simply because of this factor. They are similar to the company in Sydney; they accept Christianity in the heat of the moment without calculating the cost. Could this be the reason for so much of our spiritual bankruptcy.

This week's thought: Obstacles can be stepping stones.