Commitment's Cost

I used to think of commitment as something like a trip to the pet store. I would choose which pet store to go into, look through all of the cute little cuddly puppies, and finally pick out my favorite, healthy golden retriever pup. Golden retrievers can cost a weighty fee, but I love them so much that I would happily slap down the money. I would commit to it by paying for it and taking it home to be mine, for better or for worse.

The problem here is that this kind of commitment looks only like the better... not the worse. It serves me, gives me what I want, when I want it, and in the condition that I choose. It's easy to pay for an adorable, healthy little creature of my choice.

Something tells me commitment looks a little different. Perhaps it's a pet store that has all of the puppies wrapped up in little grab-bags (I know that's cruel, bear with me.). I know I'm going to get a live animal, I can see it moving around in the bag... but I don't know what it will look, smell, feel, or behave like. For the sake of relationship (and for the sake of freeing one little creature from its inhibiting grab-bag!), I choose one. I must pay for it, just the same - and it must be the highest cost, because the cashier doesn't know what's in the bag, and it just might be the offspring of an award-winning pedigree. So I pay the price and the puppy is mine to take home, to be responsible for, and to cherish. I earnestly tear open the bag and...
The puppy has only three legs and a mound of other "problems."

Does this mean I can get a refund? Should I even desire a refund? Should I grudgingly keep the puppy for the duration of its life, constantly reminding the pooch of its second-class status? Could this mangled little animal, with its behavioral and physical ailments ever bring me joy, or be worth the cost?

It could be such a let-down. Or... it could be true love, the kind our Savior has committed to us.

I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret* of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through Him who gives me strength.

-Philippians 4:11-13-

*http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpVsF4W8V2Y