“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?”

If you have flown anytime in the recent past you know that nearly every airline has adopted “add-on” fees.  Even the airlines that boasted for so long about their amenities have gone the way of the norm and now charge for almost anything that is extra.  JetBlue joins the club in 2015 with adding a fee for a first checked bag. I watched this past week as a teenager who didn’t realize that there was an up-charge for a checked bag almost go into a panic because he didn’t have a credit card and they didn’t take cash. (He decided to carry the bag, even though it appeared too big for the overhead compartment). Yes, we can expect more and more “add-on” charges in the places that we might have expected an amenity to come with the price.  In the midst of all of this, there stands an opportunity to differentiation if one can figure out how to save a little in efficiencies and then pass that back to the consumer with something that will be perceived as an “extra”.

When I think of the cost of our salvation, I only fall more in love with Christ for the fact that He paid for it all and then never comes back and adds on anything else that we must do other than accept and follow Him.  In that gift alone should be enough joy and thankfulness to carry each one of through the worst of our times.  As we prepare to sit around a table of thanks this week, let’s be sure and focus that thanks on all of the giving that God has done for us and how He has done so without a single add-on upcharge upon us.

Reference: Luke 14:28 (New Living Translation)