Friday, February 13, 2026

Alex Buabeng-Korsah

TOPIC: THE COST OF STAYING

THEME SCRIPTURE: "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I. Send me!” — Isaiah 6:8

PREPARATORY QUESTIONS:

1. Why do many Christians today find evangelism or sharing the message of the gospel so difficult a life to live?

If yesterday exposed the tragedy of being sent but unresponsive, today presses the question further: what does it cost when God’s people choose to stay, refusing to go and proclaim His glory?

Scripture rarely treats disobedience as passive. When God calls, refusal to the call is not neutral— it reshapes history. Jonah’s flight from Nineveh delayed God's mercy to Nineveh. Israel’s fear of giants in Canaan delayed entry into the Promised Land by forty years.

The gospel still advances, but disobedience always extracts a price—from the messenger and from those who wait in darkness.

The Holy Scriptures speak plainly about this cost. Jesus said, “He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters.” (Luke 11:23). Jesus was not politicking when He spoke in Luke11. Rather, He wanted us to recognize that the kingdom grows when believers value obedience more than comfort.

John R. Mott saw this clearly. His generation had unprecedented access to education, wealth, and global mobility—yet vast regions remained unreached.

The obstacle to sending the gospel in John Mott's time was not opportunity but reluctance. The same obstacle is what we face today. Mott warned that delay dulls conviction. A call postponed long enough often becomes a call ignored.

Jesus framed the issue sharply: “Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it” (Luke 17:33). The irony of mission is this: what we fear losing by going is often what we lose by staying. Spiritual vitality fades. Compassion narrows. Faith becomes theoretical rather than lived.

Gregory the Great cautioned pastors of his day, “The shepherd who lives for himself and not for his flock is a hireling, not a shepherd.” The same principle applies to every believer. A faith turned inward eventually forgets why it exists.

In our theme scripture, you notice that Isaiah did not ask for clarity, safety, or timing. He answered before knowing the cost. That willingness is rare, but it is precisely what God uses.

Beloved, the nations are still waiting to hear the message of the gospel—not because God is unwilling to send, but because many are unwilling to go.

This devotional is not a call to reckless action but to honest accounting. What obedience has God already made clear? What obedience have you delayed under the banner of wisdom, timing, or prudence?

Key Takeaway:

Delayed obedience is disobedience with better manners—and it still leaves the world unreached. If you are not fulfilling the Great Commission, you're living in disobedience.

Precious one, this year is your year of turnaround towards the Great Commission. So, Respond. Fulfill it.

Remain blessed.

FURTHER READING:  Isaiah 6

Call to Salvation: Today is your day if you have not received salvation by turning over your life to Jesus Christ. Click here to do so.

QUESTIONS TO HELP YOU MEDITATE ON THE WORD

1. Where might comfort be disguising itself as discernment in your life?

2. What has God already made clear that you continue to postpone?

3. How might your faith deepen if obedience became immediate rather than conditional?

PRAYER

Lord, expose the ways I protect my comfort at the expense of Your mission. Give me the courage of Isaiah and the faith of those who counted obedience as gain. Teach me that staying safe is not the same as staying faithful. Send me—and make me willing to go. In Jesus’ precious name. Amen.

One-Year Bible Reading Plan

Exodus 23-24; Psalm 42