Monday’s Devotion: The Trail Less Travelled

Luke 14:28  “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it?"

Yesterday after church I asked Joe if he would like to go to a state park and hike.  I felt the need to be in nature and to work off some of the emotion left over from my sermon.  Besides we’ve walked all the roads in Hapeville many times and needed a change in scenery.  We settled on Sweetwater Creek State Park. It was only a half-hour away and we’d never been there.  We picked up a trail map at the visitors’ center and saw there were four trails: Red, Yellow, Blue and White.  The longest combination Red to White and back to the center was a four mile loop.  We chose that and set out.  The first half mile of the 1 mile Red trail was nice.  There were lots of people going to see the old factory that was destroyed in the Civil War.  Past that the crowd disappeared. Over the next 3 ½ miles we saw only 4 or 5 couples.  The walk turned into a climb up and over roots and rocks and log steps.  The scenery was beautiful even if the going was rough in a number of places. It wasn’t until we finished the trail that we turned the map over and saw that the Red trail was classified Easy to Difficult and the White trail Moderate to Difficult. The combined estimated completion time for the two was 2 ½ to 4 ½ hours.  We made it in 2 hours and 20 minutes, stopping to take pictures and catch our breath. In all, because we took some side trips we covered about 5 miles.  Had I read the descriptions ahead of time, I might have chosen an easier trail.  People often jump impulsively into things without counting the cost.  Many times they pay a dear price for their actions.  Jesus wanted his followers to know the true cost of following Him.  He didn’t want them to rush blindly into that commitment.  Hopefully we will all consider the consequences of our actions before we act.  Sometimes being bold brings great rewards like yesterday’s hike, but we must be willing to consider the cost.

Gracious God, We ask that you be with us this week. Please give us the opportunities for new challenges and the wisdom to know what we should do.  Guide and strengthen us each day for the tasks at hand. We ask in your Son’s holy name. Amen.