Remember Why You Sold Everything

The last few weeks/months have been intense on all sides. The article below (from Desiring God) pretty much sums up the summer--learning what it means to truly be a disciple of Christ, and understanding the true cost of discipleship. Discipleship is costly--it will cost you everything. But friends, the treasure of knowing Christ FAR outweighs the cost.

Praying that you would know the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ as Lord, and count ALL else as rubbish.

(From Desiring God November 2007)

"One of Jesus’ most powerful parables is also one of his shortest:

'The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.' (Matthew 13:44)

Fifteen minutes before this man’s discovery in the field, the thought of selling all that he owned to buy it probably wouldn’t have crossed his mind. If it had, it would have seemed foolish, even excruciating. But fifteen minutes afterward he was off to do it with joy. What made the difference?

The treasure. This man suddenly found something that transformed his whole outlook on life. It restructured his priorities. It altered his goals. His values changed. The treasure revolutionized the man.

Now, there was a cost to obtaining the treasure. Viewing it one way, it was a high cost. Imagine being his neighbor. You would have been bewildered as you watched him liquidate his assets. You might have questioned him. You might have warned him of the dangers of imperiling his family. You might have talked to other neighbors, wondering if the man was going bonkers. You would have been puzzled at his joy.

But viewing it another way, the cost was very small. The man was shrewd. Standing there in the field he did a quick cost-benefit analysis. It didn’t take much time to realize that selling all his possessions was going to make him wealthy beyond his wildest dreams. What he did might have appeared foolish at first. But in reality the benefits so far outweighed the costs that he would have been foolish not to sell everything.

What this parable doesn’t tell us is how difficult it was for the man between the time he sold everything and the time he had full, complete access to and experience of the treasure. It doesn’t describe the moments he wondered if the treasure had been an illusion, the fears that might lose it, the temptation to buy back what he had sold, the hardship of not knowing if he could make ends meet while he waited.

As Christians, that’s where we are living right now—in the treasure-is-already-ours-but-we-don’t-have-it-in-full-yet world. Much of the rest of the New Testament was written to fill in this gap for us, and teach us how to keep the treasure in view during the long wait.

Paul is a great example of how to do this. Sitting in prison writing to his dear friends in Philippi, he was reflecting on the treasure’s cost when he wrote, “whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ” (Philippians 3:7).

And what a cost. He had sold all that Saul the Pharisee once valued: an admired vocation, a stellar reputation, influential friends, his home. He lost any dreams he may have had for a wife and children. He lost financial security—all earthly security for that matter. Now in prison he had lost his freedom. And he knew the loss of his life for Christ’s sake was only a matter of time.

Imagine a friend from Paul’s old Pharisee days visiting him in prison after all those years. What might he say? “Saul, what have you done? You abandoned a promising life to buy the precious treasure that your rabbi taught about, and what do you have to show for it? A scarred back, a broken body, poverty, constant danger, constant stress, and now prison. Oh, and a few small groups of adherents to your creed sprinkled here and there who, like lambs among wolves, will be wiped out when you’re no longer around to guard them. Some treasure, Saul.”

I imagine Paul responding, “Some treasure, indeed. In fact, ‘I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish in order that I may gain Christ.’” (Philippians 3:7-8).

Having lost all things, what had Paul gained? Jesus Christ. Paul’s treasure wasn’t his possessions, achievements, or legacy. His gain was the forgiveness of all of his sins through Jesus’ substitutionary, atoning death on the cross. And through that he had also gained Jesus’ perfect righteousness, which meant that Paul now had continual access to the Father for any request and enjoyed the Father’s pleasure resting on him—the pleasure that the Father has in his Son. And Paul was now an heir to all that Jesus was inheriting from the Father. He had gained the promise that God would work all things together for good for Paul and that none of his labors, as feeble as they might appear, would be in vain. He gained the promise of the resurrection from the dead, eternal life without any indwelling sin. And, above all, he gained the promise of the perfect fellowship with the triune God, the Heart of Paul’s own heart whatever befall, the High King of Heaven, his Treasure.

Yes, the treasure is real. But there is a cost to obtaining the treasure. We must be realistic about it. It will cost us everything. But if we’ve really discovered the treasure, the most realistic conclusion is that we would be foolish not to go and in our joy sell all that we have to get it."

still here....

ok...so I realize I'm pretty terrible at this whole blog updating thing. Summer is here--well, summer is almost half over!!--and it's crazy!

I just spent an AMAZING weekend with THE SPRUILL'S! I am so blessed to have such a FUN adopt-a-family!! We had fun watching live fireworks in the backyard (that's right--fireworks are LEGAL in Kentucky--I may live in the city, but it's still got some "hick" in it!),  eating at Lynn's Paradise Cafe (ask Sharon about the Bourbon Ball French Toast!), learning about the history and making of baseball bats at the Louisville Slugger Museum, and exploring Bass Pro Shop in Indiana. If you've never been to a Bass Pro Shop, it's actually a lot of fun (there's an aquarium, a Starbucks, and full restaurant inside!) 

It was so good to spend the weekend with them, but it sure makes me miss the First State!

Bellarmine classes are going well--we're about halfway through t

he semester, and the workload is certainly picking up! Two more Saturday classes to go!!

I find out next week whether or not I passed the PRAXIS exam I took last month to pursue teacher certification. Prayers are SO welcomed!

PRAISES:

*Bellarmine class is halfway over!! 

*Good visits from good friends! (Carolyn Larrivee was also out here last month and we had a BLAST!)

*God is so gracious to plant me in a community where I feel SO loved. He is SO good. 

*Teaching at Prospect Latin School is going well. I've been assisting in a classroom on Tues/Thurs, and I will have my own class in the Fall!

*I'm still with the girls I've been nannying for since I moved here--we are having so much fun hanging out this summer, and they were SO incredibly gracious when I told them about the career move for the Fall! I'm going to miss those girls!

*SALVATION!! We are more blessed than we will EVER know. 

PRAYER:

*I'm still homeless as of August 1st. God is the Provider and He is Sovereign. My needs will be provided for, but it's a bit nerve-wracking, as August 1st is only 3 weeks away!!!

*There is LOTS to do to finish up my semester at Bellarmine...I need perseverance to finish the semester well!

*My future roommate, Lindsay, is ministerin

g in India this summer. Pray for boldness, protection, and perseverance--she comes back the 21st of July!

*Bekah (my current roommate) is taking the CPT test tomorrow to become a certified personal trainer. PRAY for her to do well tomorrow!!

*God is in the sanctifying process, and as beautiful a process as that is, it's also pretty painful...pray for grace and faith to sustain the pruning!

Life is crazy busy, but GOD IS GOOD! If you're looking for some refreshment from the Word, I suggest checking out Isaiah 43-61. I know that's almost 20 chapters, but they're all SO good. The Lord is God, and He is ONE! There are NO OTHER GODS BESIDES HIM! 

(Here's a taste of Isaiah 43:

"But now, this is what the Lord says-He who created you, O Jacob, He who formed you O, Israel: 'Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; You are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. For I am the Lord, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I give Egypt for your ransom, Cush and Seba in your stead. Since you are precious and honored in my sight, and because I love you, I will give men in exchange for you, and people in exchange for your life...'You are my witnesses', declares the Lord, 'and my servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe me and understand that I am He. Before me no god was formed, nor will there be one after me. I, even I, am the Lord, and apart from me there is no savior. I have revealed and saved and proclaimed--I,  and not some foreign god among you. You are my witnesses,' declares the Lord, 'that I am God. Yes, and from ancient days I am He. No one can deliver out of my hand. When I act, who can reverse it?" (Isaiah 43: 1-4; 10-13). Go read the rest of it--you'll be so glad you did!

Two other notes of encouragement from my pastor this week....

...in the midst of pain or trial we have two options--we can either choose bitterness and resentment or we can choose real, authentic praise to the sovereign Lord of the universe. There is no in between--we're either bitter or praising. You can't live in the middle.  CHOOSE PRAISE!

...In heaven, we will no longer have to "believe" anything--we will SEE it. We will stand FACE TO FACE with our Maker. We will SEE the wounds in His han

ds and His pierced side. We won't have FAITH, we'll have SIGHT....cling to that today!

And finally...a book recommendation. I am on my second time through this book. Our Women's Ministry chose this as our Summer Bible Study, and it has rocked my

 life. She begins the book by asking "in your pursuit of godliness, have you left Jesus behind?"

 I WHOLE-HEARTEDLY EXHORT YOU TO READ THIS BOOK! (guys too!!!) 

Because He Loves Me: How Christ Transforms Our Daily Life by Elyse Fitzpatrick

LOVING YOU!!!!! and praying that the gospel is transforming your life TODAY!