Daily Devotional For Friday, June 28, 2024

Well, it’s Friday and you made it. You’re just a few hours away from the long awaited weekend. We have been looking at questions asked by people and by our Lord in Scripture. Today, we come to a question Jesus asks that really hits us here in America. It is found in Matthew 16:26, “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul” (ESV). This question posed by Jesus is contained in some strong statements by Jesus in Matthew 16:24-27:

“Then Jesus told His disciples, `If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me. (25) For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. (26) For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul? (27) For the Son of Man is going to come with His angels in the glory of his Father, and then He will repay each person according to what he has done” (ESV).

Jesus is saying that every single person can go for whatever he or she thinks will bring them life or not and thus forfeit eternal life later. Or they can go to Him and be favored or gain eternal life later. We live in a very materialistic society full of advertisements convincing us that our lives are not full and complete without more money, possessions, material things, and etc. We can’t really go anywhere and escape this lie from hell. 

When Jesus in Matthew 13 gave us the Parable of the Sower and the different types of soil, He said this in Matthew 13:22, “As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful” (ESV). Jesus says that a genuine and sincere disciple is willing to pay whatever price of faithfulness to the Lord requires. As for some, that could include martyrdom such as were all the disciples, the Apostle Paul, Dietrich Bonhoeffer and these men – Jim Elliott, Ed McCully, Roger Youderian, Pete Fleming, and their pilot, Nate Saint – all martyred by the Auca Indians in the Amazon on January 8, 1956. 

Pastor and author John MacArthur tells the following story:

“The story is told of a plantation slave in the old South who was always happy and singing. No matter what happened to him, his joy was always abounding. One day his master asked him, “What have you got that makes you so happy?” The slave replied, “I love the Lord Jesus Christ. He has forgiven my sin and put a song in my heart.” “Well, how do I get what you have?” his master asked. “You go and put on your best Sunday suit and you come down here and work in the mud with us and you can have it,” came the reply. “I would never do that,” the owner retorted indignantly as he rode off in a huff. Some weeks later, the master asked the same question and was given the same answer. A few weeks later, he came a third time and said, “Now be straight with me. What do I have to do to have what you have?” “Just what I’ve told you the other times,” came the answer. In desperation, the owner said, “All right, I’ll do it.” “Now you don’t have to do it,” the slave said. “You only had to be willing. It is not that a disciple has to be a martyr, but that he is willing to be a martyr if faithfulness to Christ demands it” (Source: John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary, “Matthew,” p. 51).

Jesus asks this question in the context of His disciples taking up their crosses to follow Him. Pastor and author Kent Hughes writes this about taking up our cross:

“What are our crosses? They are not simply trials or hardships. It is typical to think of a nutty boss or an unfair teacher or a bossy mother-in-law as our “cross.” But they are not.… A cross comes from specifically walking in Christ’s steps, embracing his life. It comes from bearing disdain because we are embracing the narrow way of the Cross.… It comes from living out the business and sexual ethics of Christ in the marketplace and world. It comes from embracing weakness instead of power. It comes from extending oneself in difficult circumstances for the sake of the gospel” (Source: Kent Hughes, Mark: Jesus, Servant and Savior, Preaching the Word. Vol. 1, p. 202).

Jesus’ question sits in the context of the high cost of discipleship. The costs are high but the rewards are huge. Pastor and author Chuck Swindoll write this on this passage:

“Yes, those who gripped their lives with white knuckles would lose them in the end. And if they didn’t surrender their souls to Christ, everything they held onto would be lost forever. But those who let go in self-denial and opened themselves up to whatever God had for them would be rewarded beyond imagination (Matt. 16:25). This reward wouldn’t necessarily come in this life, however. A person could gain the “whole world” yet forfeit his or her soul. What person, when faced with an eternity of damnation, would not wish to have given up everything previously held dear on earth for the joys of heaven? That’s the argument Jesus was making as He urged the disciples to a life of total abandon when it came to following Him. This brings us to what “never” we must never forget: We must never think that being a close follower of Jesus can happen without self-denial” (Source: Charles R. Swindoll, Swindoll’s Living Insights New Testament Commentary, “Matthew 16-28,” p. 37).

Questions To Consider

1. How far does your commitment to Jesus Christ really go and why?
2. If Jesus asked you what He asked the rich young ruler in Matthew 19:16-22 to give up all your wealth, money, possessions, retirement accounts, pension, material things, family, friends, would you do it? Why or why not?
3. There is no discipleship without self-denial. Why?
4. Cross-bearing means to crucify anything and everything that is keeping us from becoming more like Christ. Have you done that? Why or why not? If not, what do you need to crucify in your life to follow Christ?

Scripture To Meditate On: Matthew 4:8-9, “Again, the devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. (9) And he said to Him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me” (ESV).

Prayer To Pray: “Dear Jesus, discipleship is no easy matter. I know You want more from me than just being a good church member. You want me – all of me. Please help me to crucify any area of my life that is not under Your Lordship. Please help me to be willing to give You everything if You ask that of me. Please help me not to conform to this world, but to be transformed into that new and completely different person You so desire. I love You Jesus. In Jesus’ name, Amen!”

I love you Southside!--Pastor Kelly