Thursday, April 24 || WILL YOU GIVE GOD WHICH IS PRECIOUS TO YOU?

Read : Matthew 13:44-46; Mark 10:29-30

“... Go, sell everything you have ... Then come, follow me.”

- Mark 10: 21

God has blessed us with many blessings, but we need to see that we are only stewards and the Lord is the owner. We should be willing to surrender them to Him when He asks. Abraham was faced with the ultimate challenge when he was called to sacrifice Isaac, the most precious son of promise. His willingness to sacrifice his son clearly demonstrated where his heart was. Exactly at the moment, when he had stretched out his hand and taken the knife to slay his son, God intervened and said, “Do not lay a hand on the boy. Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.” (Genesis 22:12) That was probably the greatest challenge in Abraham’s life.

Dear friends, are we willing to lay on the altar those which are close to us - our reputation, our loved ones, our ministry, our possessions, and allow Jesus to be the Lord of our life? Even though it is true that salvation is free and there is nothing we need to do to earn it, we cannot enjoy the fellowship with God and His forgiveness without being willing to submit to His lordship. “Jesus never allowed compromise, but clearly spelt out the cost of following Him in a way that would discourage those who did not really mean business,” writes Peter Gammons. Let us honestly look back over the years that we have walked with the Lord and see whether we have surrendered our will to Him in complete obedience to Him, and said like Jesus, “Not my will, but your will be done.” This should not cause fear. God cares about us. He is not a tyrant. He wants us to have His best. He takes something away from us because He’s got something better. So, let us yield to Him with total confidence.