What Are You Willing to Give?

What Are You Willing to Give?

John 3:16

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosever believeth on Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)

What are the most important things in your life? Your family? Material possessions such as money, homes, cars, jewelry? If you were to meet God today, and He asked you to give it all up for eternal life, would you do it? Or, would you take your chances and have it all now and work on getting to heaven later? Personally, I would rather give it all up if I knew I would spend eternity with God in heaven, walking those streets of gold. Don’t get me wrong, it would be hard to give up the little that I own, and it would be especially hard if I had to sacrifice any member of my family. But, as the Bible tells us in Matt. 19:24, “And again, I say unto you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.” We’re also told in Matt. 19:29 that, “And everyone 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 a hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life.”

Abraham is a perfect example of someone with the willingness to sacrifice something near and dear to his heart to show his faith in God. In Genesis 22:2, Abraham was told to,“Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.” In Genesis 22:3-9, Abraham did just that, even though it was probably the hardest decision he ever had to make. It would be the same for any of us, but if we have faith in God and follow His commands, we are assured that “All things work together for the good of them that love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8:28)

When you stand before the judgment seat of Christ, do you want to be like Abraham, or do you want to be like the young man in Matt. 19:16-24, who owned much but was unwilling to give it up for eternal life? I choose to be like Abraham.

Tomorrow is not promised to any of us. If there is anything that hinders you from serving God like we should, don’t take the chance of waiting to give it all up for Christ. You may wait too late, and on judgment day, there will be no excuses to give, no request for a second chance, no begging or pleading. It will be too late.