Week 51
Luke 18:29-30 “And He (Jesus) said to them, ‘Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, who will not receive many times as much at this time and in the age to come, eternal life.”
It is often surprising, particularly to American Christians, how sacrificial the Christian life is described to be in the Scriptures. Some wrongly get the impression that coming to saving faith in Jesus Christ means that we “take” from Jesus, and we do not make any commitments to Him in the process. This is the perspective we commonly see in the church circles where “easy faith” reigns supreme. The idea of carrying one’s cross in discipleship is truly foreign when the message is: Just trust Jesus as Savior, and all your problems will go away.
Well, this passage assumes the opposite. The Christian life is declaring one’s allegiance to Jesus Christ, which means we take our stand against evil and darkness, even when we find it in ourselves. There is a price to be paid in following Christ, and every Christian seeks to follow Jesus, in spite of the difficulties and hardships associated with that commitment.
And when a Christian suffers for Jesus, or loses temporal blessings for following Jesus, and finds himself alone in the process, he may wonder if this commitment (and the price it demands) is too high to pay. But Jesus in this passage puts to rest that concern and fear.
This passage is tantamount to being a promise to the Christian who seeks to honor Christ in all aspects of living. If we lose relationships, friendships, and even material comforts in the process of following faithfully after Jesus Christ, Jesus says that there is a strong compensatory assurance that is offered to every suffering Christian. Jesus says that no one while following Jesus ever loses, because we will be re-paid in the kingdom of God, both now and in eternity.
As the Christian finds himself emotionally and sometimes physically battered for the sake of Christ, the Lord Jesus has wonderful ways in this life to interject grace and providential mercies to help sustain and bless along the way. We may be able to anticipate some difficulties that we may face in following Christ, but rarely are we able to anticipate sustaining and all-sufficient grace that God will give to us in the hour of our need. So many of God’s great saints have suffered much in following Christ, but each of us bears witness to God’s blessings, mercies, assistance, and strength experienced in the hour of battle and hardship. And, on top of that, every suffering Christian testifies of the great relationship that they have with Christ because they walked with Jesus through the tunnel of turbulent fire. And when life is over, we walk through the portal of death into the bright sunshine of eternal life, flavored with joy beyond description in heaven. No suffering saint ever said that God owed them more than what God has given.
Struggling Christian, will you trust God to compensate you for your losses in your trial of tears? You will find yourself rejoicing in the goodness of God.
Prayer: Dear Lord, please help me to trust You when I seemingly lose something in this life because I follow You. Help me to trust You that You will make it all turn out right. Amen.