Day 142 "Souls are priceless–paid for by the blood–don't fall for a deal."

Day 142 Matthew 16:24-26 Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?” Jesus pretty much sums up the path of life for each and every person who has existed or will exist upon this planet. Will they follow God or sell out? I would imagine that a great number of people who read this passage tend to feel that they could never have the strength or abilities to take up their cross and follow Christ, after all, that is a very big task is it not? I mean, if you take this in the literal sense, you could easily assume that you will need to walk away from your family and friends, live off of what others give, sleep wherever you land, be homeless, and let everyone who disagrees with you treat you however they like, while you smile lovingly at them and turn the other cheek. After all, isn't that what Jesus did? Let us not forget that Jesus came to establish the new covenant, and the disciples and early believers were to re-enforce the power of Christ by suffering tremendously. However, it was necessary; the religious strongholds needed to be broken and the new covenant of grace and mercy by the sacrifice of Jesus firmly established. There was truly a timely purpose to the sufferings of the early disciples, one which has since ended. Yes, we, too, can suffer persecution for our beliefs; however, they pale in comparison to those of the early believers. Our sufferings of today are more in the sense, I believe, of self-control and discipline; that of not allowing the temptations of the world to control our actions and beliefs. Our goal is truly to pursue the righteousness of God, a relationship with our creator, and share the joy and freedom of that relationship with others to strengthen the family of God. However, many have sold out. They have allowed the things of this world to overcome them. For some, money has become the controlling factor in their lives; for others, sports, or alcohol, or drugs, or relationships, or careers, or whatever this world can throw at them to prevent them from putting God first in their lives. As Christians in the United States in the twenty-first century, we, with rare exception, have no idea what it means to be truly persecuted or to suffer for our beliefs, yet we often act as if we do. After all, if it wasn't for Church, we could go to the lake Sunday or go hunting or take a trip. I challenge you, as I do myself, to take a hard look at your life. Have you sold out to the world? What's your price? Daily Prayer: Father, if I in any way have sold out to the world, would You reveal to me the changes I need to make that I might be first sold out to You. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen. "Souls are priceless–paid for by the blood–don't fall for a deal." Pastor Gene Burroughs