~ 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)
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