God Blesses Us

29And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife^e or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life.  (Matthew 19:29)

Thoughts: There is a verse in which the Bible says, "Do not take revenge.  Revenge is mine says the Lord."  God sees when people do us harm and treat us poorly.  But God also sees when we give up things voluntarily to do the Lord's work.  The reward for us is not dependent on the here and now.  The reward is better when it is not in this temporary life anyway.  In this life our reward may be a one to one replacement (like insurance).  In the next life the reward is multiplied. It is almost as if God gives us interest for waiting.  The point is not that we will have a hundred wives or a hundred fathers or mothers or a hundred children.  We can only have one mother, so we should be careful to not interpret this in a physical way.  However, in heaven relationships are smoother, deeper, purer- with no friction or sin to divide us.
    Once John Calvin was ridiculed by an adversary as not being blessed by God because his only child died in childbirth while his wife miscarried other pregnancies.  Calvin said he had tens of thousands of children throughout the church.  Perhaps this is what this means.  Relationships are different in heaven Jesus said.  We are not married and given in marriage.  Yet real deep love is in heaven.
    Jesus also throws in there- almost "by the way, you will also inherit eternal life."  God loves His children and desires to bless them- with life that not only last forever, but is forever young and forever joyful.  God loves to bless His children.
     Christians do not need to concentrate on what they give up.  Others should not hesitate on thinking that their life will be miserable and they will have to give up all joy and pleasure to become a Christian.  Becoming a Christian means we begin to live as we are design to live.  Sometimes it is the destructive and hurtful behavior that God asks us to give up.  When we begin to truly believe our "want to"- our desires change.  Our joy is only made complete in Him.  He comes to give us the abundant life now and eternal life to come. 

Prayer: Lord, help us to count it all a loss to serve and honor you.  Let us focus on our goal more than what we have to give up to get to that goal.  

The Secondary Place of Family

29And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife^e or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life. (Matthew 19:29)

Thoughts: Sometimes we tend to marry family with God so much that we can easily forget that family is not God.  This passage reminds us that family is a blessing.  But God can bless us when we choose Him to be first in our live.  No person, however important, can take the place of God.  So when a child dies or a spouse divorces/leaves, we do not give up on God.  We do not worship our parents.  Parents die too, and we still should keep the faith.  Those who are able to hold lightly to those God has placed around us, will do well.  The balance is to love but not to love in the place of God.  A soldier who is not willing to leave family to answer their call to post would not be a good soldier.  A Christian who cannot leave family to serve, values their own comfort above their call and the kingdom suffers for lack of devotion.  In the end, the soldier goes to defend family.  So the Christian serves Christ for the good of all including their family.  Family values gain strength when we value God first. 

Prayer: Lord, give me grace to answer your call and trust your blessing and value your will.