Giving Up Stuff

“Yes,” Jesus replied, “and I assure you that everyone who has given up house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or property, for my sake and for the Good News, will receive now in return a hundred times as many houses, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, and property—along with persecution. And in the world to come that person will have eternal life.”

Mark 10:29-30

MANY TIMES WHEN a Christian gives up everything for Jesus, people are shocked, even those who say they’re Christians. A wealthy businessman decides to give all his money away and go and serve as a missionary. A doctor leaves his practice to do surgery on needy people in Africa. A young woman tells a young man no, she won’t marry him because he’s not called to youth ministry as she is.

One man, with a prospering veterinary practice, and his wife decided that they were called to go to a foreign land and practice there as missionaries. Friends and family all objected, but the couple knew they had to obey God. Today they report what a wise decision it was, as they ministered not just to animals but also to many people they would never have met otherwise, even helping people who were ill.

To some Christians, leaving everything behind doesn’t make much sense. One man, when asked why he couldn’t be a missionary, said, “I like air-conditioning too much.” Every Christian, though, will have to give up things to serve Christ wholeheartedly. From sins, to money, to careers, to the type of community you live in—God may call you to give up something valuable to you. What will you do? Say no and go your own way? Or say yes, not knowing where he might take you?

When we give up our own comfort or an entire lifestyle to serve God, he will ultimately provide rewards and blessings a hundred times over for our commitment.