Gus got to the city and went to the Body Shop where he had the Food Bus painted before. Gus wanted the food bus painted bright green again with flowers. The owner of the Body Shop had some bad news! Gus did not have enough money to paint the food bus the same as it had been before. Gus did not have enough money because he had spent the money at the hospital to help the man that he had found injured at the side of the road. Gus had not taken time to count the cost of painting the bus compared the amount of money that he still had. Now he could not afford to paint the bus like it had been before.
Gus asked the owner of the Body Shop what could be done? The owner took out his calculator and started to figure out what he could do for the money Gus still had. After a few minutes the owner told Gus that he could paint the bus plain white with blue stripes. It would not be fancy, but it would be painted. Gus did not like the idea, but it was all he could afford. So, the bus was painted white with blue stripes.
A few days later the bus was finished, and Gus drove back to the area where he sold food.
That night Gus thought about how embarrassing it was when he was at the Body Shop and found that he did not have enough money. Gus remembered that Jesus had told a parable about counting the cost of being a follower of Jesus.
Gus looked up the parable in his Bible and found it in Matthew 10:37-39 and Luke 14:28-30, 33
Matthew 10:37-39 If you love your father or mother more than you love Me, you are not worthy of being mine; or if you love your son or daughter more than Me, you are not worthy of being mine. If you refuse to take up your cross and follow me, you are not worthy of being mine. If you cling to your life, you will lose it; but if you give up your life for Me, you will find it.
Luke 14:28-30 But don’t begin until you count the cost. For who would begin construction of a building without first calculating the cost to see if there is enough money to finish it? Otherwise, you might complete only the foundation before running out of money, and then everyone would laugh at you. They would say, ‘There’s the person who started that building and couldn’t afford to finish it!’
Luke 14:33 So you cannot become my disciple without giving up everything you own.
These verses from the Bible scared Gus! They seemed impossible! He needed to love God more than anyone or anything else in the whole world! That is the cost of being a true follower of Jesus
Gus wrote in the Gus-Bus Eternal Journal:
Today I learned about the parable of Counting the Cost of Following Jesus! I need to love God more than anyone else or anything else! God I cannot do this on my own! My heart wants to do this, but I fail so often! God help me to make you number one in every area of my life! I can only do this with your help!