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Apples of Gold
Radio Script for October 11, 2010
“Make Sure You Include the Opportunity Cost”
Hello, I’m Doug Apple…with Apples of Gold.
“Go for a walk, it’s free!”
Well, it may cost you no cash to go for a walk, but it still costs you.
And now it’s time for a little economic lesson, about a thing called “true cost.”
The true cost of something includes the cash cost, as you might expect, plus something else: the “opportunity cost.”
When you go for a walk, the opportunity cost is what else you could have done with your time instead of walking.
You only have so much time. It’s a scarce resource, and when you use it one way, it costs you the price of using it another way.
Here is a basic illustration of opportunity cost. Let’s say you go to the mall with $20 burning a hole in your pocket. You find a $20 shirt that you simply must have, but then you find a great set of DVD’s on the bargain table for just $20. So you pick one, and it’s only going to cost you $20, right? Wrong. It’s going to cost you $20, plus the opportunity cost of getting the other thing.
When you have a scarce resource, like money, it forces you to make decisions based on your values. What is more valuable to you? That is what you will spend your money on.
To be wise, you must keep in mind that it’s costing you more than whatever is on the price tag. You must also include the opportunity cost.
Let’s say you decide to become an English teacher, so you add up the college expenses and declare, “It’s going to cost this much to become a teacher.”
But wait. Don’t forget the opportunity cost. What if you could have become a doctor? If so, becoming an English teacher cost you the obvious expenses, plus the opportunity cost of not becoming a doctor.
Even people who aren’t with me so far will get it after this next example. Romance. Everyone understands opportunity cost when it comes to romance. If you marry the first girl that comes along, you just cost yourself the chance to marry the next girl that comes along, who might be better. Unfortunately this cripples some people to the point of never committing. They don’t want to pay that high opportunity cost.
However! If you wait and wait for the perfect spouse to come driving by in a souped-up red convertible, that too has an opportunity cost. While others are marrying and starting their families, you are still marking time.
Opportunity costs are often hidden, which is why I’m bringing them up today.
Let me tell you about my career choice. I was working in secular radio, but drawing closer and closer to God. At some point I came to the realization that if I really believed in God, and if I could work for Him full time in my chosen profession, how could I not do it?
I came to a fork in the road, and here is where the opportunity cost comes in. When you come to a fork in the road, you must consider the true cost of each choice, which includes the opportunity cost.
If I stayed in secular radio, I would likely make more money. There is more prestige in the community, more room for growth, and on and on.
But if I stayed in secular radio, to me there was an unbearable opportunity cost that had nothing to do with money. I would lose the opportunity to work for the Lord full time, to glorify Him with great Christian music on the radio, to bless people and share God’s truth 24 hours a day, to shine His light and bring salvation and hope and peace and wisdom to this dark old world.
To me, that had a much higher value than what secular radio had to offer, and I made my choice. And 2011 will mark my 25th year of working fulltime in Christian radio.
In Luke 14 Jesus talked about counting the cost of being His disciple. He said, “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it?” “Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Will he not first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand?”
Now listen to Jesus’ conclusion in Luke 14:33. “In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.”
Wow. That cost sounds mighty high, doesn’t it?
But don’t forget the opportunity cost of not giving it all up for Christ. If we don’t give it all up, we cannot be His disciple, that’s what He said.
So what is the opportunity cost of not being His disciple?
You may decide the price is too high to follow Jesus, but please make sure you include the opportunity cost when you do your calculations.
I can’t speak for everyone, but for me, I found the value of giving it up for Him far outweighs the value of the things I was giving up.
Now what about you? Are you ready to give it all up for Jesus Christ?
And if it doesn’t sound like such a good deal at first, make sure you do this.
Make sure you include the opportunity cost.
Comments?
E-mail me: dougapple@wave94.com.
May God bless you today! With Apples of Gold…I’m Doug Apple.
© 2010 The Arrow’s Tip
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(Proverbs 25:11 – “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.”)
Why “The Arrow’s Tip”? Each morning, after diligently seeking the Lord, I write Apples of Gold. Then before I release it to the public I pray one final prayer, “Lord, send forth your arrows.” I envision Apples of Gold as arrows, tips dipped in the river of the water of life that flows from the throne of God (Rev. 22:1), sailing toward the hearts and minds of men and women around the world.
Doug Apple
General Manager - Wave 94
Christian Radio for Tallahassee
PO Box 4105
Tallahassee, FL 32315
(850) 926-8000
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