WHAT WILL WE GET? (1)

TEXT:  MATTHEW: 19:27-29

 “Then Peter said to him, “We’ve given up everything to follow you. What will we get?”  Jesus replied, “I assure you that when the world is made new and the Son of Man sits upon his glorious throne, you who have been my followers will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.  And everyone who has given up houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or property, for my sake, will receive a hundred times as much in return and will inherit eternal life.

In the course of following Christ, we have left everything that we used to attach importance to, all the things that used to be our joy and gain, we have counted them as rubbish like apostle Paul said in Philippians 3:7-8 “But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ…  Jesus said in his word in Luke 14:33 that “in the same way any of you who do not give up everything he has CANNOT be my disciple.” This means that if you really want to follow Jesus genuinely, you have to let go of everything that are of great value and importance to you, so that these things will not distract or hinder you from following Jesus with all your heart. Jesus did not hide the cost of being his disciple from people; he made it clear that to be his disciple is not going to be easy. It is very costly that it takes the grace of God and determination to be able to follow Christ.

You cannot follow Jesus and at the same time be attached to other things that can make you to turn your back against him. That is why Jesus is telling you to deny yourself of all things (human and material) before you will be able to follow him. “If anyone comes to me, and does not hate his own father and mother, and wife and children, and brothers and sisters. Yes and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple (Luke 14:26). This is how “expensive” the cost of following Jesus is! To forsake all important relationships and even hating your own life, what Jesus is teaching us here is that we should live by the greatest command, to love the Lord with all our heart, soul, mind and spirit. He does not want anything to take his place in our lives, hating your own life means you would not mind being rejected and ridiculed for Christ sake. Forsaking your parents and other friends and family members means that you will not allow them to be a hindrance to serving God. God is not a man that He should lie. He will reward you in due season.