Freedom isn't free

My countrymen use that phrase frequently in reference to political liberty. But how much more it's true for the grace of God. And I'm not talking works salvation. The free gift of salvation cost Jesus dearly. A life of discipleship will cost us dearly, too, if we really take up our cross and follow him.

Three posts this morning--by an Irishman, a Brit, and a Reb (no way I'll call a guy from Texas a Yank)--remind us that, in the words of N. T. Wright, "God does not want cheerful, shallow, flippant and easy-going" Christians. It cost Jesus to bring us into his Kingdom, and it will cost us to do the work we're called to do.