All In

Luke 9:23 - Then He said to the crowd, "If any of you want to be My follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross daily, and follow Me."

God wants us to be absolutely surrendered to Him.  We cannot be only half way in.  And this sort of obedience will always require adjustments in our lives.

Last night, I read a quote that hit me right between the eyes.  C.T. Studd, a missionary in the late 1800s and early 1900s said, "If Jesus Christ be God and died for me, then no sacrifice is too great for me to give for Him."  That's what I call being all in.  This guy understood what is expected of us.

Some may read that and think, "Whoa...everything?"  Yes. Everything.  Jesus warned us about being half way.  In Revelation 3:16 He said, "But since you are like lukewarm water, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth!"  I'd say it is pretty clear about where our Lord and Savior stands on not being all in for Him.

The issue a lot of us have with being all in, is giving up the creature comforts we have come to enjoy.  I know I have that problem sometimes.  But when I think about a lot of what I have done in my past, and the "creature comforts" I have acquired, I have to ask myself one question.  Has anything I've done apart from Jesus made my life any better?  The answer is a very easy one.  No it hasn't.  When I think about it from that perspective, it makes it easier to be willing to give everything up for Him.  Not easy, but easier.  Closing that gap requires God to step in and help.  We need to be willing and obedient, and God will take care of the heavy lifting.  What C.T. Studd said makes all the more sense in that light.  There really is no sacrifice too great for us to give for Jesus.

He gave the ultimate sacrifice for us, so that we could live with Him.  Like the thief on the cross next to Jesus said, "We deserve to die for our crimes, but this man hasn't done anything wrong" (Luke 23:41).  We deserve life eternal separated from God in hell.  But out of His amazing grace and mercy, He has given us a path to eternal life in Heaven with intimate fellowship with Him.  We don't need to keep score on this one, because it's obvious that we are the ones winning here.

We never know the cost required in the sacrifices we will need to make or the adjustments we will need to make in our lives in order to be all in for Jesus.  But there will be a cost.  There will be adjustments to make.  The cost is unimportant.  The adjustments don't matter.  We just have to make them.  We have to be willing and obedient to give everything up for Him and His Kingdom if that is what He calls us to do.

I pray that if God were to call me to walk away from everything I had or know to serve His Kingdom, that I would be willing and obedient.  I want to be all in, but I will need His strength to get there.

Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for Your sacrifice and giving me the path to eternal life in Your Heavenly Kingdom.  I pray that I can give up any selfish desires and go where You want me to go.  I know that I can accomplish anything by Your strength, and that is what I will need to give up my selfishness.  I cannot do anything apart from You.  I pray for those that struggle as I do with selfishness.  My prayer is that they will receive the strength they need from You to break free from their bondage to self, and go all in for You and Your Kingdom.  In the name of Jesus I pray, Amen!



God Bless!!!