Today’s Encouragement is Matthew 19:29 NLT And everyone who has given up houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or property, for my sake, will receive a hundred times as much in return and will inherit eternal life.
Who Has Given Up –
The Bible is filled with stories of broken relationships, many examples are of children who don’t follow their parent’s faith (beginning in Genesis with Cain!). We can recognize the truth that 1) we are adopted into God’s family by God’s sovereign choice, and 2) our earthly family may be – or it may not be – a part of that!
We fervently pray that they are to be, that our family and others will become believers, but it isn’t up to us… God calls, and He chooses. We can certainly pray, but He is sovereign. He is God; we ain’t.
And we are called to Give Up… houses, family, property… everything… for Jesus. Not because He doesn’t want us to have these things, but because He must be First! And we must consider everything else, everything but Jesus… as, well, trash (Philippians 3:8)! But notice the end of today’s verse… a hundred times as much… and eternal life!
Is God inviting you to give up something? Something you love or cling to, it can be a ‘good’ thing like family, or maybe a ‘bad’ thing like a bad habit, or addiction. Whatever comes to your mind is probably what He’s inviting you to let go of….
And my friend, nothing compares to the infinite value of knowing Christ! As this song says, “Nothing comes close to You!”
Father God, help us to let go of everything we hold to, so that we are free to hold only to Jesus.
Simple Pursuit
Melody Malone
Today’s Encouragement 