What Am I Willing to Give Up for the Gospel?

What am I willing to give up for the Gospel? In Matthew 17:24-25, Jesus says one of, if not the most powerful thing I’ve heard Him say. He says, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.” This is powerful, because God in the flesh is telling us that it’s not enough to just be halfway in for Him. No. Those who genuinely want to love and honor God must sacrifice their lives for Him. That doesn’t necessarily mean their literal lives (although it might), but their lives of chasing after things of this world. The world is offering us these lesser joys; entertainment, sex, alcohol. But the way to true joy is not found in these things; true joy is found in a genuine, intimate relationship with the Lord. But the only way to get to this real, powerful joy is by becoming fully dependent on the Lord. Not becoming dependent on Him when you’re struggling, but at all times.

I heard this really cool comparison between the Israelites exodus from Egypt to the Promised Land and our lives as Christians. I’ll skip the beginning, but eventually the Israelites reach Mt Sinai where they receive the Lord’s commandments. This is us as Christians today gaining knowledge of God, going to church, maybe reading the Bible a little bit. But God wanted the Israelites to wander through the desert to reach the Promised Land, because that is where God had incredible things waiting for them. The Promised Land for us today is true joy that only comes from having a deep, intimate relationship with the Lord. But when the Israelites sent spies to the Promised Land before going in, all but two of the spies came back saying that there were giants living there and that they would die if they went there. The Israelites became so afraid of what it would take to get to the Promised Land that they didn’t think the reward was worth the risk. Today, we are afraid of suffering, of losing things here on earth; our comfortability, our friends, our finances, our identity. We are so afraid of going through what it takes to reach God that we aren’t willing to give anything up for Him. We want God, but we don’t want to sacrifice everything we’ve built up on Earth for Him. You cannot have both a genuine relationship with God and all of the things you’re clinging to from this world.

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth… But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven… For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” – Matthew 6:19-21

“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” – Matthew 6:24

Many people in the church today are comfortable with the Word of God, walking around Mt Sinai. They’re content going to church and living this lukewarm life, not really knowing who God is because they don’t have an actual relationship with Him. They don’t want to be uncomfortable to get to the Promised Land. They want to be completely comfortable and have God. But that won’t happen; the Bible is clear on that. If you want comfortability over God, if you prefer the things of this Earth over what God wants for you, I encourage you to ask yourself why. God’s will for your life is better than anything you could ever think of or want. But to get to it, you have to be willing to pick up your cross and lose your life for Him. I still have a long ways to go with this, but the more I’ve given up for God this year, the deeper my relationship with Him has become and the more genuine, powerful joy I have received and now walk in. I say all of this not to discourage you, but to try and show you that God demands not just a part of us, but all of us. Only then will we come to the perfect will that God has for our lives and experience true joy.