Sacrifice

I greet you in Jesus' precious name! It is Friday morning, the 24th of November, 2023, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.

We start in the Gospel of Matthew 16:24: 

"Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me." 

Then we want to go to the Gospel of John 15:13:

"Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends." 

Following after Jesus is a costly business. Sometimes we lose our friends when we get serious for the Lord. We are not so popular anymore and it can be quite painful, especially if you are a young person. People are going out, partying, sleeping around, drugging, drinking, and you say, "No more for me." You will be surprised at how quickly you will lose your friends. I remember when I gave my life to the Lord as a young man. I said to the men who were following me up, I said, "There is one thing I don't want to do - I don't want to lose my old friends." They smiled and said, "Don't worry about that, Angus. You won't have to lose them, they will lose you." You see, we cannot have anything to do with darkness when we are walking in the light. It can be quite painful when people mock us for our stand for Christ. 

Gypsy Smith, that old Romany Gypsy who used to preach off the back of his painted wagon to crowds of up to 10,000 people at a time, said, "It takes a dead fish to flow with the current, but it takes a live one to swim against it." Remember, if your faith is costing you nothing, well then, it is worth nothing. It cost Jesus His life, didn't it? He died for you and for me. Sometimes I despair when I see how little you and I are prepared to sacrifice to stand up for our Lord. I remember a beautiful story told many years ago. A big sailing ship was sailing with people down to the South Sea Islands, and there was a lovely young family who had left their safe haven, their home, and they were on their way to one of these islands where there were cannibals. As the captain docked the ship, just off the coast, and lowered a little lifeboat for them to row to the shore, he pleaded with the family, "Don't go there because they are going to kill you." The man said to the captain, "Sir, we died before we left home." I want to tell you today, let's have a good look at our own lives and really see if we are making a difference for the Gospel and helping the lost.

Have a wonderful day, 
Jesus bless you and goodbye.