Quote: Jim Elliot, 11

~ Implications ~ 

What Does Jesus Christ Want From You?

The following is an excerpt from a book.

Listen, my friend, Jesus Christ told us that the things that were most real were the things which lasted the longest. Those aren’t His words, but He implied them in that, Things that last the longest are things which can’t be corrupted! [Jim’s emphasis] Things which can’t be stolen.

You can lose that new diamond ring which you would like your husband to give you, because thieves can break through and steal it. Moths can take care of that new fur coat you would like your husband to give you, because moths are just able to do that. And rust can fix that Buick you have set your eyes on, because, well, that’s what rust is for. To teach you that Buicks, and fur coats, and diamonds, and all the rest of it, are of the earth. To show you that they are perishable.

Now, Jesus Christ wants to lift your eyes from earth and teach you something of importance, mainly, things that last forever. That’s why He said one day to His disciples, “Don’t worry about what you’re going to eat, or what you’re going to wear, or what you’re going to live on, because your Father knows that you need all that.” What you’re supposed to do is to seek the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all the rest of this stuff will be added unto you. Don’t worry about things on the earth because our main interest is things in the heavens. Now whether you like that or not, that is the essence of Christianity.

If Christianity does not take you from earth and give you an interest in the heavens, you haven’t got Christianity. If Jesus Christ has never given you a new and a living hope, I suspect that you’ve not been begotten again by the resurrection from the dead. If eternal things are not far more important than earthly things, then there is for you, my friend, a strong suspicion that you’ve never really believed in the resurrection.

If earth were the most important thing, then Jesus Christ would not spend two thousand years preparing things in heaven for His people. Earth is going to be important, I grant you that. Earth has a big place in God’s scheme. But it’s not the only thing. And until men are weaned from earth and willing to reject earth in favor of heaven, then there is for them no heaven. And that’s what it is going to mean for you.

You may say, now come on, we know that Jesus Christ doesn’t require anything of a man but that he believes that He’s the Son of God, and that he believes that He rose from the dead, that’s all that He requires. Well, all right, but do you know what believing requires?

Believing that Jesus Christ is the Son of God requires that we receive His Word and the implications of it. And the implications of the Word and life of Jesus Christ are that earth is not important in the sense that most of us twentieth-century folks think it’s important. Getting ahead is not the big thing. And that’s just exactly what Paul tells us; he says that those that will be rich “pierce themselves through with many sorrows.” Those that want to get ahead, some suppose that Godliness is gain, some suppose that Godliness is progress and profit. Paul says this is an error, but “Godliness with contentment is great gain.” That’s profitable.

~ from “JIM ELLIOT: A Christian Martyr Speaks to You, pgs 68-69  (ISBN: 9781615797646)

Learn more about this important book at Amazon, the Publisher, or the Author’s website.

~ Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT LIFE NOW

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