Hidden Fees

We were going to spend a week in Las Vegas, spontaneously. It was a last minute decision. We went to look at hotels on the “strip” for a family of 4 and found that the famously “low” rates weren’t so low. First you have the room rate. Low. Then you add in the all-new “resort fees” and then you are charged for every person more than 2 in the room….per night.

The hidden fees weren’t all apparent up front. They were frustrating and discouraging.

Life is like that sometimes.

Things look great up front. We partake of all that food without thought to the cost on our bodies. But the hidden fees show up later in high cholesterol, high blood pressure, or body weight.

You take the easy way out with your kids and are their “friend.” But the hidden fees come out in a very spoiled, uncontrollable, self-serving child or a young adult that doesn’t know how to take care of themselves. An adult that you worry about because they party, do drugs, drive recklessly, never take time to be with you…whatever.

Hidden fees.

They exist in all of life. That is why God gave us boundaries. Not to restrict us. But to protect us. He paid the fee so we won’t have to. All we have to do is follow His guidelines. No hidden fees will show up if we remain pure till marriage and WITHIN our marriage. No hidden fees will be unveiled if we are honorable and hold ourselves to a higher standard against lying, cheating, and stealing.

There is a cost in everything. It’s part of life. We can pay up front and do the harder thing so that in the end, things are smoother…or we can pay later….with hidden fees.

Either way, we pay.

Thank heavens, my Lord loved me enough to pay for me, knowing that I would make mistakes and have errors in judgment many times in my life. He still wants me. Still accepts me. And still has a room for me.

Don’t let life mislead you. There is never an easy or cheap way out. It’s only temporary and it won’t last. There will come a day, where hidden fees will be unveiled in your life and you will have to pay for the decisions you have made.

Bank on it.