Message Magazine’s Online Devotional for Tuesday, December 9, 2014
Based Upon Mark 10
What did you give up to follow Christ? He will give it back.
When I consider purchasing any item in a store or on the internet, there are a few things that I must be clear on before I go through with the transaction. I must understand the return policy, warranty, and overall replacement policy. With the exception of the price, these three have my greatest focus. I don’t like being stuck with a product with which I am unhappy. Whenever I find that either the product is faulty or not up to my standards, I like to return or exchange it for something more suitable. I also like the security of knowing that if it goes bad in the next several months, there is a replacement warranty in place to protect my investment.
Looking for some affirmation, Peter spoke to Jesus. After having been struck, along with the other disciples, with the reality of salvation being about God and not about human attainments, Peter said that they had left everything in order to follow Christ. Then Jesus began to explain the lifetime replacement warranty to the disciples. “And Jesus answered and said, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel’s, But he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life.” (Mark 10:29, 30). Jesus understood that life without Him is faulty. It is not worth retaining. We would be well served to take it in to have it replaced. The friends that we have lost by choosing Christ will be replaced with new ones who will help us win others for Him. Those who edify us and support our new life with Jesus will supplement the family members who do not know the Lord. We will never be without somewhere to live when we are in Christ because every believer in the world is at our disposal in our times of need. If we ever need food, clothing, or anything essential for life, God has promised that He will supply it.
We will not always have a bed of ease when we leave all to follow Jesus. We look forward to persecutions just as He experienced because we are not more important than Him. The servants will not escape trials if the Master did not. The promise is that all we have forsaken will be more than supplied, and we will receive the gift of eternal life.
The replacement warranty on our lives says that if anyone realizes, by the power of the Holy Ghost, that their lives are faulty, He will replace it for an upgraded model; a model that will not fall apart or malfunction. We all need to have our lives replaced for a complete life in Christ. Pray that the Lord will teach us all how to forsake all in order to follow Him.
