HOW TO BE USEFUL TO THE LORD
CHAPTER TWO
WEEK 2 - WEDNESDAY
Bible Reading: Mt 6:24; 19:16-22; 25:8-9; Lk 14:26-36; Jn 20:15-17; 21:15, 18; Acts 2:44-45; 4:32; 1 Cor 9:24, 26; Gal 2:2; Phil 3:8; 2 Tim 4:7; Rev 3:18
Read and pray: "Brothers, I do not consider myself to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." (Phil 3:13-14)
THE PURPOSE OF PAYING THE PRICE
The purpose of paying the price is to give God the opportunity to accomplish in us what He intends to do. The meaning of paying the price is that we allow God to have a place in us, to enter into us, be our life, and even fully mingle with us without any hindrance, limitation, or difficulty.
Our way of life, preferences, inclinations, future, and interests must be renounced in exchange for Christ, for He desires to fill the place of everything we have. We need to surrender all that we have. If we give more, we will receive more. If we give less, we will receive less. If we give nothing, we will receive nothing. If we give everything, we will receive everything.
We must pay the price and deny ourselves, renouncing family, career, and future, and setting aside everything that takes God's place. In this way, God will come to us to be our life, power, nature, and content. If someone believes in the Lord but is unwilling to pay the price to gain Christ, then the salvation he receives will consist only of the forgiveness of sins and the reception of eternal life.
The aspect of salvation that includes the forgiveness of sins and receiving eternal life was prepared by God for you, and all you need to do is receive it. However, for God to be mingled with you, you must renounce all that you have. For this reason, Matthew says we need to buy oil (25:8-9), and Revelation explicitly says we need to buy gold, white garments, and eye salve (3:18).
The term buy in these passages was spoken by the Lord Himself. Paul did not use the term buy, but instead, he said: "I have lost all things... to gain" (Phil 3:8). In principle, both losing and buying involve paying a price. The extent of your loss determines how much of Christ enters into you. If you are attached to what you already have, there is no way to gain Christ.
The first Christians sold everything they had for the love of the Lord (Acts 2:44-45; 4:32). Before, they were under the usurpation of those things, and God had no opportunity, space, or way in them. However, in the end, they realized that all those things should not be the goals of their pursuit, but God Himself should be their only goal.
For this reason, they hated all those things and lost them. The rich young man in the Gospels loved the Lord and wanted to follow Him, but in the end, he left sorrowful (Mt 19:16-22). Why? Because he had no intention of selling his possessions. Since he was dominated by all those things, Christ had no place in him.
Whenever a person is dominated by reputation, future, position, power, and relatives, there is no way for Christ to have the first place in them. The Lord said that no one can serve two masters (6:24). This means that no one can have two loves. This issue cannot be solved simply by faith.
Thus, at the end of the Gospel of John, a book that often refers to faith (1:12; 3:15-16, 18, 36; 6:40; 20:31), the issue of love is mentioned. Many Bible readers recognize that John 21 was added by the author as a later reflection. This Gospel undoubtedly ends in chapter twenty, but the writer added another chapter, chapter twenty-one, which is of a different nature.
The first twenty chapters of John speak about faith, but the last one speaks about love (vs. 15-17). Peter and John had no issue with faith. However, unless they left their fishing boats and nets, they could not gain Christ. Today, there are so many Christians who are in John 20, but how many are in chapter twenty-one?
Expressions like "more than these" (21:15) and "when you are old" (v. 18) indicate that we are required to pay a price so that Christ has the opportunity to fill us richly with Himself.
Although, in John 20, Peter was already saved, inwardly, he did not have much room for Christ. He had received eternal life in abundance, but he had not been sufficiently filled with Christ. For this reason, the Lord asked: "Do you love Me more than these?" (21:15). To have more love for the Lord required him to pay a price.
If we only have faith, we still cannot say that, for us, to live is Christ; we still cannot know the power of Christ’s resurrection, and we still cannot say that it is God who works in us both to will and to do. The Lord said that whoever does not renounce everything cannot be His disciple (Lk 14:26-36). If it were enough to simply have faith, then Paul would have had no need to run the race (1 Cor 9:24, 26; Gal 2:2; 2 Tim 4:7), nor would he have desired to receive the future reward (Phil 3:14).
Enjoy More: Hymn 183
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