Erin and I have 2 beautiful daughters that love to play with cash-registers.  Kids have a fascination with the whole idea of ringing items up and the transaction of buying goods from them.  I think every kid at some point has played with a cash-register and had a great time.  I can remember working a cash-register as a teenager for first time when I worked in one of my parents shops they owned.  I loved to ring things up and have the power to make a transaction with customers.

The cash-register is a picture of payment…and you can’t buy anything worth having without a payment.  Life is free, but success comes with a price.  Anything worth having costs something.  Only hand-me down items are cheap and free, but real worth comes in something worth having.  We pay the “big bucks” to get the things that we really want in life.  We understand that the better the item is the more expenses it will cost.  And the price we pay for something usually relates to the nicer that something is.

We all have to pay a price to get to where we want to go.  The journey to successful living costs something.  The price is very different depending on what it is that we want.  But make no mistake there is always a price.  For example…if you want to lose weight and get in shape…the price is…discipline and sacrificing unhealthy foods.  If you want to be a better spouse…the price is…humility and time spent with them.  If you want to achieve a better career…the price is…developing your skills and learning.  There is always a price for success.  Our great country has its freedom because of faithful men and women who paid a price.  Our salvation in Christ is a free gift by the grace of God because Jesus paid the price on the cross for our sin.

If you want to go up-you have to give up.  All great achievements in life come with a price tag.  Unfortunately many people aren’t willing to pay the price.  Some hope to win the “lottery of life” and expect successful living to land in their lap, or wake up one day “living the dream”.  But successful living and “living the dream” type of life doesn’t just happen, it costs.  The price you pay determines the potential you reach.  We all have the potential to be great, but few are willing to make the payment of hard work and commitment.  Let me give you an equation that will help you understand the chemistry of success…

Success = Sacrifice

Sacrifice alone does not = Success

Let me explain that equation…If you are on the road to success you WILL have to make sacrifices.  However, just because you are making sacrifices does not mean you are on the road to success.  If you are growing and moving forward in life it WILL require you to let the old things go.  That means friends that hold you back, changing the way you think, jobs that you have out-grown, opportunities that aren’t challenging you, and fear that keeps you in a box.  But don’t mistake the thought that just because you changed a job or got rid of a bad friend you will automatically be a success.  You still have to keep moving forward on the journey with hard work and dedication to a higher level of living.

Here are some thoughts on “Paying the Price” in life…

1. You MUST pay the price to move up – You can disagree or try to find short-cuts but there is no other way around sacrifice.  We have to give up the good to get to the great.

2. The higher you go the GREATER the price – As you move up to higher levels of living the price increases.  The sacrifice becomes greater as you become greater, but the rewards are much higher.

3. It is not a ONE TIME payment – Life is a series of payment plans that never end.  At every level of our life we must pay a different and new price.  You don’t make one payment and expect that payment to keep you there.  The payment starts new everyday.  What you paid to get you to where you are won’t keep you there, you have to keep paying the cost again and again.

What is the price you have to pay to get to where you want to go?

Define the cost, gather your resources and invest your life.