Count the Eternal Gains
“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” —Matthew 6:21, NIV
I’ve lost a lot of things and people in my life. Moving around from country to country has cost me over the years—a little glimpse of what the phrase means: “you can’t take it with you.” Sacrifices, some of which come back to haunt me have had to have been made along the way. Some of them aren’t all that big or significant. Others poke and prod in the back of my mind, big enough to cause regret. I have consoled myself by remembering Peter’s statement and the Lord’s answer in Mark 10:28-30: “Peter said to him, ‘We have left everything to follow you!’ ‘I tell you the truth,’ Jesus replied, ‘no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age (homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—and with them, persecution) and in the age to come, eternal life.”
I was kind of hoping for the “in this present age” especially when I seem to have a lot less rather than more as the result of my obedience.
Ever feel like that?
Then my mind turns to the Lord Jesus, who left everything behind Him because of me—and you. Temporarily, Christ’s pleasures, comforts, and privileges, even His intimate relationship with His Father, were put aside in order to provide for a long-term benefit—God’s glory shown in His grace at work in us.
My focus is wrong as is my timing. It’s not that God’s promises aren’t true, it’s just that my need for immediate gratification is off-base. My heart is still on treasure other than the greatest treasure there is. As Paul said: “…whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him…I want to know Christ” (Philippians 3:7-10, NIV).
It’s not that, somewhere in the back of my mine, I think that if I pursue knowing Christ enough he’ll reward me with all the things and people I’ve lost for Him. The truth is that if I know Christ the way I should, I won’t care anymore about what I’ve lost or what I hope that God replaces.
I’ll only care that I know Him better.
I’ve lost a lot of things and people in my life. Moving around from country to country has cost me over the years—a little glimpse of what the phrase means: “you can’t take it with you.” Sacrifices, some of which come back to haunt me have had to have been made along the way. Some of them aren’t all that big or significant. Others poke and prod in the back of my mind, big enough to cause regret. I have consoled myself by remembering Peter’s statement and the Lord’s answer in Mark 10:28-30: “Peter said to him, ‘We have left everything to follow you!’ ‘I tell you the truth,’ Jesus replied, ‘no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age (homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—and with them, persecution) and in the age to come, eternal life.”
I was kind of hoping for the “in this present age” especially when I seem to have a lot less rather than more as the result of my obedience.
Ever feel like that?
Then my mind turns to the Lord Jesus, who left everything behind Him because of me—and you. Temporarily, Christ’s pleasures, comforts, and privileges, even His intimate relationship with His Father, were put aside in order to provide for a long-term benefit—God’s glory shown in His grace at work in us.
My focus is wrong as is my timing. It’s not that God’s promises aren’t true, it’s just that my need for immediate gratification is off-base. My heart is still on treasure other than the greatest treasure there is. As Paul said: “…whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him…I want to know Christ” (Philippians 3:7-10, NIV).
It’s not that, somewhere in the back of my mine, I think that if I pursue knowing Christ enough he’ll reward me with all the things and people I’ve lost for Him. The truth is that if I know Christ the way I should, I won’t care anymore about what I’ve lost or what I hope that God replaces.
I’ll only care that I know Him better.
When I see some of what you've done, all I can think is what a rich life you're living. Too many things have been lost in my life, for me to care about material things, but letting go of people is truly hard. Your words are soothing.
ReplyDeleteIt is a really tough concept to grasp. "For where your heart is, there your treasure will be also." I so want for God to change my desires if they are not his, yet so many are good and noble, yet are not happening. I am with you in working through this. Isn't it wonderful to know He is in control though and will see us through.
ReplyDelete