How Much Will You Sacrifice For God? Kelly Durant
Matthew 13:45 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls :46 Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it.
2. How many of you have ever wanted something really bad and you saved up for about a year to get it? For a special vacation, a car, or anything of value, it has to worked for and saved up for, and also even sacrificed for. I recall when I had a paper route I saved up for about 8 months to be able to buy the bike I wanted.
I already had a bike, but it was not special, it was ordinary. I am glad that when I was a youth I learned that you can get ahead and you can get what you want by fighting for it. As a matter of fact, I won a bike one year by selling the most boxes of candy for the Boy Scouts. My mother took me out every night for three months to sell door to door or in front of hospitals so I could win. I sold the bike I won and applied my savings and got the special Schwinn bike I wanted!
Most everyone in life is in the fight to progress or gain something of value. Who doesn’t want a good car, a good job, a good companion? To gain anything of value you have to have great patience and persistence. Here is the secret though, you have to have discretion to know what is worth fighting for! Here is a verse that will re-shift priorities. John 6:27 Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed.
3. There are many examples of people in the Bible that fought to gain something of value and they got it. Take Jacob for example. He wanted to marry Sarah and so Laban her father did a deal and he told him to serve him tending to his herds. He wanted him to earn the right to her and then he said he would give her hand to him when done.
Who knows how long he served him? Seven years! And to think that today there are people who are not even able to wait seven weeks or seven months to plan a wedding to get married and so they just shack up after meeting and it usually ends in disaster.
But guess what happened on the night of the wedding? Now here is a lesson about not drinking too much! After the party Jacob was so wasted he did not even notice that his father in law was marrying him to Leah instead of Sarah. It turns out the older sister had to be married first, so what did Jacob agree to? To work another seven years to marry Sarah! Now that is patience and persistence! Most people would have been livid and left but Jacob worked even another seven years in order to gain possessions from Laban. That is 21 years of servitude!
4. So when you want something you must count the cost of what it will cost you and you ask is it worth it? A spouse is something that usually takes a long time to plan for and invest in. A new car, well, it might take a year of savings, but in the end a car is only something material, but it is a very important part of our lives.
And just think how many people settle for much less than what they could have gotten. There are people who make the mistake of getting any old car instead of sacrificing and waiting for one that could be much better. So the cheap costs expensive as some people end up spending a lot of extra money in repairs and parts all due to the fact they make the mistake of not sacrificing to begin with getting something of quality.
If you and I do not plan well what is best to obtain in life, we will end up with a problem instead of a blessing! But here is something we cannot make a mistake on, and that is the faith we are going to follow. To follow Jesus you have to be willing to make some great sacrifices, because to whom much is given, much is required. But some people fail this test of sacrifice.
5. Take for example the rich young ruler that was not willing to obey and trust Jesus all the way. Luke 18:23 And when he heard this, he was very sorrowful: for he was very rich. 24 And when Jesus saw that he was very sorrowful, he said, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God!
All the disciples were put to the test to see if they really honestly wanted to follow Jesus and all of them had to give up something and they even gave up their lives. Some had to give up their family businesses of fishing, another gave up his secure job working for the government collecting taxes. All of them left a stable situation for an instable one.
Does it appear that Jesus was picking on the rich young ruler? He wanted to make it clear that to serve God it would cost everything! Jesus was going to give up everything on the cross and He needed followers who would be willing to forsake everything here and now for the spreading of His Salvation to all the lost.
6. To gain much you have to invest much! It is like the pearl of great price. Matt 13:45 Successful business people know about the cost of investment! All things not mediocre in life involve risk, adventure, danger, and total sacrifice and dedication.
In the Salvation Army we want Soldiers that will prove they are willing to be dedicated. The sad part is some people want to be Soldiers for the respect of belonging to the group but then they do not follow through with serving God and others, or in giving a tithe or showing up to volunteer when needed.
This is like being AWOL. This means away without official leave when referring to soldiers and this is the condition of many Christians in the church. No Corps or church needs any more comfortable Christians sitting around like the many millions that already fill church pews doing nothing to reach out to others! Some people get fed spiritually for years and then all is wasted and not reinvesting by the making of leaders that win new souls for Jesus. With all the investment in certain people, you would think we could get some dedication out of them to serve the hurting and to preach the gospel, right?
7. The problem is too many people are too selfish or comfortable to be willing to sacrifice for what God expects. With God it is invest it all, or don’t invest at all! What was holding the young rich man back? There are several factors that are common in many people.
For one, the way He responded to Jesus about how He had kept the law since His youth reveals pride on his part. He thought he was so good that he deserved to be a follower of Jesus but no one can qualify by merit and their own self-righteousness to be a disciple. To make the grade you must be willing to pay the price of doing what Jesus commands to love, even love your enemies.
Another was selfishness, he was not willing to let go of his possessions. What we observe is Jesus made examples of the prideful ones that thought they were so strong and good on their own. This is a sign of not giving up your own character to God. Peter got humbled many times by Jesus when he was being a show off, being boastful, or arrogant but Peter had made the original sacrifice to be a disciple.
8. Pride causes too many people to give up and not sacrifice all the way for God when they actually have the potential to succeed. Pride makes people do big mistakes and lose their patience and they miss the mark with God and they do not get the best that God wants them to have in their lives.
Some people do not like to be put to the test but William Booth put others to the test and we must do it too sometimes. Do you recall how Samuel Brengle had to shine the boots of all the street Soldiers for several months in order to prove that he was not coming to the Salvation Army with his pride? He had a Theological degree but Booth perceived he had some pride still and he asked him to do a simple task instead of an important one being placed in a high position.
It is a problem if a person wants to be seen as the best in the group without submitting. If a novice person gets embarrassed and angry and these carnal emotions could over-ride the original purpose of just serving Jesus. Goals to advance require steps and sacrifice, work, time, and unlimited dedication. It is sad but many to give up on serving God because they can’t take the humiliation and test!
9. In the end there is nothing we give up for God that He will not recompense in heaven for the sacrifice. If things we sacrifice for here on earth are obtainable, how much more will be the reward for celestial things? There was Jacob who sacrificed and there was also King David and virtually every man of God.
King David said this when he could have made an offering without paying for it: 2 Samuel 24:24 And the king said unto Araunah, Nay; but I will surely buy it of thee at a price: neither will I offer burnt offerings unto the Lord my God of that which doth cost me nothing.
There is nothing we do for God that does not require a sacrifice and a fight. What is for God takes time, dedication, planning, and preparation. Each person is on a different time scale. God needed 40 years for Moses to be ready and Jesus took 3 and half years with the disciples. How long does God need to prepare you in order to use you? There is a calling and something great for every Christian and Soldier so pray and cooperate with God; with patience sacrifice, invest, and don’t run away from His preparation phase. The heavenly reward is worth sacrificing for!
