“And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life” (Matt 19:29).
“He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it” (Matt 10:39).
Sure, I understand this. It means things like:
- being martyred for your faith
- losing your job because you’re a Christian
- leaving your family and home to take the gospel around the world
- having few close friends in college because of your outlandish beliefs
Face it... for many of us, those come around now and again or never.
But what about when:
- I spend a lonely evening in a crowd
- unwelcome changes come my way
- words, or lack of them, bring hurt
- I’m getting tired of rice and roaches
- something I have really been looking forward to is taken from me?
These happen to those who are not in Christ’s Kingdom, too, so they probably don’t count as “for My sake”. Right?
I wonder if, when I ride that brain train, I devalue opportunities God is giving me. Ride this train for a little:
- Everything I have and experience comes through God’s hand.
- Therefore I have nothing of my own.
- Therefore I have nothing to offer to God but what God first gives to me.
- Therefore everything I receive from God is a potential gift I can return to Him.
Here’s the picture. Something that includes discomfort is coming to me through God’s hand. I can sadly and grudgingly receive it, trying to decide what to do with it and wondering how long I’ll be left holding it. Or I can view it as something He has given me to place on His altar, and offer it to Him as a sacrifice, thus giving it value. “Lord, this is for You. I choose to receive it with a gracious spirit and respond with thanksgiving instead of murmuring.”
If difficulty is simply a don’t-like-it, gotta-deal-with-it matter, it remains at the level of losing life. If pain or disappointment or loss or inconvenience is something I can offer to God, it becomes “for My sake”, brings meaning and value to the experience, and opens the way to finding life.
When I see difficulty and pain as an opportunity to please God with a sweet-smelling sacrifice, I find it removes some of the sting. Or at least it gives the sting value, because I’m viewing it as something given to me to give back as an offering...“for My sake”.
And it becomes:
- a thank offering (Lev 22:29)
- a sweet savour unto the Lord (Lev 3:5)
- a sacrifice of praise (Heb 13:15)
I suppose if I lived across the street from the Temple, I’d be on the lookout. “Hmm...what can I offer today?”
What about if I am the temple?
