$15 for a Bible, $10 for a necklace with a cross, $2 to put in the offering plate in church on Sunday and maybe $20 for the Salvation Army once a year… Christianity really seems to be quite affordable. But is that all it takes to be Christian? Somebody might say you must give 10% of your income to God. But even that is quite affordable. Is Jesus worth only that much? Just our loose change and maybe a little extra every now and then?
Think about it: What is most the most valuable thing or person in the universe, which we should give everything for in order to get? The answer is simple: Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ surpasses riches, family, health, religion, houses, holidays, fame, cars, fun, music, sex, drugs and football by far. This life on earth will soon be over and all you have accumulated and achieved will be gone forever. Here today and gone tomorrow. But one thing will not be gone - your soul. Your soul will live on forever in one of two places: heaven or hell. Then everything you have lived for on earth will account for nothing and will be worthless – unless you lived for Christ.
Jesus once said,
For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? (Mark 8:36-37)
Your soul is far more valuable than everything this world offers. Therefore, you should make it your top priority in this life to guard and protect your soul and make sure that it is not lost in the everlasting torments in hell when this life is over. Seriously, who cares about movies or football? Don’t get me wrong. These things are not necessarily bad in themselves. I love football. But they are completely worthless and absurd in light of eternity! What difference will it make to your life 100 years from now? Hopefully, these kind of things will not make the decisive difference in that they kept you away from the most important thing - the salvation of your soul.
Jesus Christ is the One who will make the difference when it comes to the eternal destiny of your soul. Therefore, He is infinitely valuable. All the money in the world cannot buy your way into heaven. Jesus has already paid the price for you by shedding his own blood on the cross and dying for the sins of the world. God gave everything so that you could be forgiven. And this shows you how great your sins are in the sight of God – the perfect, holy Son of God had to suffer a cruel death on the cross and suffer God’s wrath. It was the only way your sins could be forgiven.
What will you give in order to know this God and have Jesus Christ as your Saviour? In one of His parables, Jesus made the following point:
Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field. (Matthew 13:44)
This is what Jesus is worth – everything. All your possessions, all your time, all your money, all your health, all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, all your strength, all your dreams, all your relationships, all your past, all your present, all your future. Every penny, every word, every thought, every deed, every breath, every second, every minute, every hour, every day, every week, every month, every year. All your life.
Not only is Jesus worth giving up everything in order to know Him, He is also worth giving up everything in order to make Him known to others, even if this means being ridiculed, despised, hated, persecuted, abused and tormented by others for His sake. The apostle Paul regarded these things merely as a “light affliction” compared with the “far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory” (2 Cor. 4:13). This kind of attitude has also been demonstrated by countless Christians who have died for their faith throughout history – from the earliest days of Christianity right until today.
The great Protestant reformer Martin Luther, whose life was under threat when chose to remain true to his faith in Christ, penned these words in the last stanza of his famous hymn “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God”:
The body they may kill: God's truth abideth still,His kingdom is forever.
Somebody once said, “Until you find something worth dying for, you’re not really living.”
Are you clinging on to worthless, deadly pleasures, or are you giving everything for the greatest treasure?
Jesus’ worth is immeasurable. Treasure Him above everything.
(The 5-minute video below probably does a much better job of communicating what I am trying to put down in my own words.)
