The Costly Gospel

A bondslave is a slave who has been set free, but out of desire to serve their master for his kind deed of setting them free, they freely offer their self in service for life. They are pierced in their right ear, symbolizing that whatever the master says the answer is already yes – they have an ear for their master alone.

            Jesus has set me free and it is my desire to then serve Him out of a heart full of love and gratitude, and simply because He is worthy of all glory and praise because of how good He is; how righteous and holy He is. However, He asks His servants for EVERYTHING. Giving Him everything is the only way that I can gain true Life and experience true freedom. It is the only way that I can serve Him. There is no half way in. It’s either all, or nothing. I can’t be a 70% follower of Christ. I need to be 100% in, surrendered. Christianity means giving up everything for the sake of Christ and allowing Him to work through you all for His glory alone. But it’s not like I’m even giving anything up! I give everything up, but then I get back more! Why wouldn’t I give Him the pen to my life story? He created me. He knows me better than I know myself. He knows better than I do how to fulfill the desires of my heart. I want to be everything He created me to be, and the only way I can do that is through absolute surrender. His body for me, and now mine for Him. He died for me. Now I’m willing to die for Him. He is doing me the favor. I have nothing. I have a handful of worthless pebbles and He has a truckload of precious jewels that He wants to exchange it for. It is His desire to give me good gifts. But I must count the cost. Because if I am His follower, I must live a life like Jesus, and He was sent to the cross and suffered persecutions.

            To live as Jesus lived means I shall also suffer hardships and persecutions. Who knows where the Lord will lead me. He is looking for surrendered vessels to go to the darkest places to be His hands and feet to the lost. Am I willing to suffer for the sake of my Jesus and the Gospel? People before me have died to protect the text of scriptures. They have been tortured as to not deny the name of Jesus as Savior. If everything was stripped away from me and I was in a prison cell, would I still praise Him? Am I willing to go to the cross as Jesus did? No matter the cost.

            I pray that there would be nothing I hold onto. That I would be as Mary of Bethany, who poured out every drop of her costly perfume upon Jesus. He is worthy of it all. He gave everything to me, will I not give everything to Him? To have no backup plan but to be wholly surrendered to the leading of the Holy Spirit, no matter where God leads me. I’ve been thinking a lot about how much I’m willing to give Jesus. I know it needs to be all. I need to give Him all my rights. I need to be willing to die for Him if need be. I’m reckoning through this truth and praying that the Lord will continually lead His followers to complete surrender for the sake of Christ and His glory. Paul writes that to die is to gain. I am desperate for the Holy Spirit to consume me and give me power for victory because I am nothing in my own strength.

            Corrie Ten Boom once asked her father about the persecution they might face in the future because they were taking Jews into their house and hiding them during Nazi Germany. Her father replied something like this, “Corrie, when we go to the train station, what do we need to get before getting on the train?” “A ticket!” “Exactly, when the Lord puts us in a situation, He always gives us a ticket. He gives the grace we need to do what brings Him the most glory.”