Following Jesus: Is It Really a Sacrifice?

This past Lord's Day I preached on Mark 1:14-20, wherein the Gospel writer recounts Jesus' proclamation of the gospel of the kingdom and His call to four fishermen. We saw that the call to discipleship is a summons to follow Christ, which demands commitment. In considering this point we reflected on how these fishermen left their nets as well as their families "immediately" in order to follow Jesus. We think of their sacrifices and sufferings. Indeed, they gave up a lot. But we also thought about what they gained -- eternal life, forgiveness of sins, the joy and peace that characterizes God's kingdom, plus abilities and opportunities to make a global impact for the sake of the Gospel. In short, they became God's world-changers!

After preaching on this theme Sunday morning, I was doing some light reading later that same day from a book a friend had lent me. In it I found the following quote from the famous missionary David Livingstone. This is an excerpt from a speech he delivered at Cambridge University on December 4, 1857:

People talk of the sacrifice I have made in spending so much of my life in Africa.... Away with the word in such a view and with such a thought! It is emphatically no sacrifice. Say rather it is a privilege. Anxiety, sickness, suffering, or danger now and then with a foregoing of the common conveniences and charities of this life may make us pause and cause the spirit to waver and the soul to sink; but let this only be for a moment. All these are nothing when compared with the glory which shall be revealed in and for us. I never made a sacrifice.

Livingstone realized that serving God is a win-win situation; we'll always end up with far more than we gave up. Jesus Himself promised, "Everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life" (Matt. 19:29).

Pastor Mark Batterson reminds us, "There is an old aphorism: 'No one ever bet too much on a winning horse.' I know this for sure: The only regrets we'll have at the end of our lives will be that we didn't seek God more or seek God sooner."

I agree. Now I'm sitting here wondering why I ever referred to this as "light reading." Actually, it's pretty heavy-duty stuff! And immensely practical, too. The bottom line is: if this is true, what difference will it make in my life? What difference will it make in yours?