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.
Philippians 3:8
In thinking about my relationship with Christ, its value far surpasses anything else. He is worth the sacrifices I make for Him. In the process of thinking about this, I had a scene come into my mind. A scene that has come up occasionally when thinking on sacrificing for the Lord, and how He is worth the sacrifice. It is a scene from my own imagination, that came about as a result of reading an excerpt from a missionary biography a few years back about John Paton. I wish I could remember where I read it, but here is the gist of it.
There was a family that felt led of the Lord to go and witness to the natives of the New Hebrides, and were dropped off on the island to begin their ministry. The inhabitants were cannibals, and were fierce warriors. Over the next couple of years his children and his wife died and were buried, and John slept on their graves every night for fear that the cannibals would dig up their graves. John would later remarry and return to the island to continue to share the gospel with these people. Of course, there is more to the story, but the scene that keeps coming to my mind is one where this man, having given up all his possessions, comforts, and security to come to this foreign and hostile land; and then losing his entire family, is alone in the darkness and stretched out over the graves of his wife and children. And in my mind the man is proclaiming to the Lord, "You are worth it! You are worth it!"
My friends, I don't know what you are giving up to serve the Savior. I don't know what sacrifices you are making or have made; but I do know this, "He is worth it! He is worth it!" He is worth the work of our faith and the labor of our love. He is worth the taking up of our cross. He is worth the suffering of shame for His name sake. He is the pearl of great price who is worth all of what we have. He is the One who paid it all, and so He is the one who is worth it all. Let us take our lives and offer them up, so that along with Paul, we too may gain Christ and may be found in Him on that day.
