Counting The Cost Poem by nisha dyrene

Lord, how is it that you would
Wash with such gentle care
the feet of men who would run away from you?
Feed with your own hands the mouth
of the man who would betray you with a kiss?
Yet, you leaned against the side of the only one
who would stand beside your cross
while you looked upon the dearest faces
of whom you loved.

Oh! How deep did your heart ache, O Lord!
Was that why you cried tears of blood?
For you did not fear death or was it pain?
It could not have been mere physical pain
For you slept with no pillows and you walked city to city.
You knew aching feet
You knew what it was to cry
You laughed, you loved so deeply, and you lived.

Yet, you died.
For me.
Thank you for drinking the cup
Bearing the stripes
Carrying the cross
Holding the nails
Paying the price
for my sin.
Defeating death and rising again
So that you could present me
blameless to the Father.
Bless me with your spirit
And take me into your kingdom when I die.

Oh Lord, what weight the love you carried
and how it broke the scales of sin's hold on me.
What thoughts pierced through the peace of your mind
that you cried out to your father?
What terrible sins of the world you carried on those precious shoulders!
Oh with what gentle arms you did the children enfold,
touch and heal the blind and sick.

Hands that cooked breakfast for your disciples
Opened and read the books of scripture
How many times would you have
put your hands of comfort on their shoulders
What pain pierced you as you ate your last meal?
For knowing all, yet still you came.
And feeling all, made the choice that was right for me.

What price Lord? What price?
30 pieces of silver
how many betrayals
How many missing faces while you died
It was enough.
It is finished.

Did it shock you, Lord?
Our depravity.
Did your heart rend into a thousand pieces
as you saw the terrible ways we have defiled and destroyed
the littles of us?
Did you hear the cries of the hurting world?
Did you feel the rage of angry sin as the devil demanded his due?
The price of sin is death.
And all have sinned and fallen short,
So all of us had to die and pay up.
But you paid in our stead.

So I owe you.
You love me.
I love you.
Please forgive me
and keep me with you forever.