More from Rich Dixon who is showing us how to think about big questions.

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Last time I talked about a moment when I first realized that following Jesus might cost me something.

For a long time, I thought “count the cost” meant something like risk analysis. Balance risk against reward, and decide if cost justifies potential gain.

Of course, that’s not how kingdom accounting works.

By faith, the “reward” is already assured. There’s no balance sheet, nothing I can do to add or subtract from my side of the ledger. And anyway, there’s nothing I can risk that begins to compare to the reward. If I had to “balance” accounts I’d be doomed.

So – what’s the deal about counting the cost?

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I ride bikes. I’m not a theology guy. But here’s what I think Jesus is showing me.

When I got that first hint that following Jesus might cost me something, I didn’t know what it meant. During the past nine years I’ve wondered if the cost is the sacrifice involved in the FREEDOM TOUR. Except, if I’m honest, we really enjoy most aspects of our rides. There’s a fair amount of hard work and some frustration, but it doesn’t feel much like carrying my cross.

Then, two things happened.

First, Jon posted one of his after-the-run Facebook ruminations about seasons and knowing when to persevere and when to stop. A few days later, in a circle with my COLORADO MOUNTAIN TOUR teammates, I realized something. I’m a 70-year-old disabled guy, and doing multi-day bike tours is getting a lot harder.

I wondered if my season of doing the FREEDOM TOUR might be ending. To everything there is a season, right? According to the writer of Ecclesiastes (and The Byrds).

I don’t know the answer. I do have some thoughts. I’ll share them next time, because I suspect this dilemma isn’t unique to me.