“And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but are yourself lost or destroyed?” (Luke 9:25 NLT)
Every human being will one day stand before a holy God to give an account of the way we have lived our life. We will then realize that if our choice wasn’t to submit to the authority and leadership of almighty God, we have literally lived our lives in vain. I realize that there are more excuses people use for not following the Lord than I have room to list, but there are a few I’d like to address.
First, the battle we most often lose isn’t with Satan, it’s with ourselves. We want our way before anyone else’s including God’s. John wrote in 1 John 2:15-16: “Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. For the world offers only a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world.”
The question Jesus asked in the verse from Luke’s Gospel (above) sums up the questions with which we must wrestle. Obviously, most human beings would like to have all the world offers, never realizing what they’re paying for their pursuit. Imagine for a moment you were the richest, most powerful person on earth. Whatever you wanted, whenever you wanted it was at your disposal 24/7.
You may believe you’re the happiest, most blessed person ever to be born, but Solomon, who was a person like that, summed up his experience like this: “’Everything is meaningless,’ says the Teacher, ‘completely meaningless.’” What’s the bottom line? Things – money and all that money can buy, are worthless in comparison to knowing your name is written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. Why? Because that’s how God designed us.
Ecclesiastes 3:11 reminds us: “Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end.” We are designed and created to love and be loved by our Creator. Nothing will satisfy us long term except knowing, loving, and walking in harmony with the Lord Jesus.
Some may wonder why I so often return to this theme of helping every person come to a saving knowledge of Jesus. It’s simple. It’s how the Lord wired me. Part of the satisfaction I have in knowing my sins are forgiven and I’m going to spend eternity with the Lord Jesus in heaven, is realizing that as long as I have breath, I need to try with every ounce of my being to influence everyone I possibly can to seek forgiveness of their sin and to walk in harmony with the Lord Jesus.
Nothing this world offers can ever approximate the peace, joy, satisfaction, and delight of knowing your sins are forgiven and you have a home in heaven. Yes, you can make a home on earth, but you’re still going to die and when you do you’re going to have all eternity to bemoan the fact you were a fool to trust in anything but Jesus.
Please, I implore you, if you haven’t yielded your life and allegiance to Jesus, please don’t wait another second. Get on your knees and hold your hands out in front of you with your palms up and ask the Lord to take your sin, your inability to save yourself; to forgive, cleanse, and free you from the shackles of sin and to fill you with Himself. Feel the weight of the world lifted from your shoulders, then thank Him for His forgiveness, His faithfulness, and the joy of knowing He’ll be with you every step of the way from this moment on.
Then find someone with whom you can share the news of your new birth in Christ alone by faith alone and ask the Lord to direct you to a Christ-honoring church family in which you can grow and learn to walk in faithfulness with the Lord and His people.
If you have questions or if I can help you in your journey, please let me know. My email address is walkingwithjesus09@gmail.com.
Blessings, Ed 😊
Walking With Jesus 