God Rewards Sacrifice

Then Peter began to say unto him, Lo, we have left all, and have followed thee. 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. But many that are first shall be last; and the last first. Mark 10:28-31 (KJV)

Whatever God calls you to walk away from or to give away, He has something better in store for you. We have walked away from many things at the direction of the Lord- jobs, houses, friends, family, finances, and security. Of course, each person must hear and know for themselves what God tells him or her to do.

The payoff is always better than the sacrifice. God has given us so much more back than we left behind. As a result, we are better people for having done it. We’re getting better and better everyday in every way and our lives are also. Jesus always cares for those who obey and follow Him.

Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught. And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net. And when they had this done, they inclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake. And they beckoned unto their partners, which were in the other ship, that they should come and help them. And they came, and filled both the ships, so that they began to sink. When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord. For he was astonished, and all that were with him, at the draught of the fishes which they had taken: And so was also James, and John, the sons of Zebedee, which were partners with Simon. And Jesus said unto Simon, Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men. And when they had brought their ships to land, they forsook all, and followed him. Luke 5:4-11 (KJV)

Jesus has called us out into the deep to follow Him. Personally, we have followed Him in this way on two specific occasions, moving to two different states when He told us to. Sometimes it was scary, but we kept taking steps. As we stepped out of the boat and walked on the water with Him, we discovered it was safer on the water with Him than it was in the boat without Him. The comfort of the comfort zone is overrated.

Those who sacrifice to obey the Lord are in good company. God called Abram to leave His family and homeland to follow God. The 12 disciples were called to forsake all to follow Jesus. And of course, Jesus Himself left heaven to come and save humanity. Jesus is still reaping the rewards from that sacrifice!

As we leave earthly things and relationships behind to follow Jesus when He asks us to do so, He said we would reap 100 fold, or 100 times more, than what we gave up. Where else can you find that kind of return on your investment? Of course, we’re not giving up things to “buy God off.” However, what we give away or give up shows where our heart is. What we sacrifice, or offer up to God, will be given back to us and more will be given. And we can expect to receive it in this life as well as in the life to come. When you let nothing or no one stand in the way of your love for God, you’ll reap eternal rewards- the greatest reward being the Lord Himself.