A person who is right with God will find ways of giving his wealth. He will find an avenue of giving his energy. He will have no trouble giving of his entire life to Jesus Christ. Paul reminds us along with the Corinthian Christians that we are not our own. We have been bought with a price. Therefore, let us glorify God in our bodies and in our spirits which belong to Him (I Cor. 6:19, 20). One of the young men, martyred in 1955 by South America Incas, was Jim Elliott. He had written in his diary, "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose." This is what Jesus meant when He declared, "Whosoever shall lose his life for My sake, the same shall save it." The issue is a very simple one today. Where do you want your treasure? It can either be on earth or in Heaven. If the former there are those who would destroy or steal it. If the latter, it will be yours through all eternity (Matt. 6:19-21). You see, your heart is wherever your treasure is located. That "prize" may be a new home, a new car, a new boat, a large bank account, or something else. Do not misunderstand, if God has given you a lovely home then you can thank Him for it, but not fall in love with it. The same is true with all "things." John rightly testified, "If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in Him" (I Jn. 2:14). In this key verse Jesus also in structs us to take up our cross. This refers to any burden you do not have to bear. It is a road you do not have to travel; a responsi bility you do not have to take.
not have this in mind at all when He encourages us to seek the in corruptible crown for self-denial. This has to do with those who are willing, in the line of duty, to deny themselves for the sake of Jesus Christ. The simple key is found in Luke 9:23: "Jesus said, If any man will come after me, let him deny him self, and take up his cross daily, and follow me." What an example to follow in the person of the Sav iour. In Phil. 2:1-11 we have the perfect pattern. We are not to do things through strife or vain glory. In lowliness of mind we are to re gard others better than ourselves. Not out looking after "Number one," but seeing what needs oth ers have. If we are to act like Jesus Christ then our thoughts must be for others. It is not "What can I get," but "What can I give?" Not, "What you do for me," but, "What can I do for you?" This philosophy is the opposite of what we find in the world today. After all, like ev eryone else, we must demand our "rights." Have you ever thought that a rose takes to itself all the colors of the rainbow and gives back on ly red? It is loved, not from what it has received, but from what it gives away. An oak leaf absorbs the full beauty of light and sends forth a single color, green. It, too, is admired for what it releases. When a thing is black, however, it takes all the hues of the spectrum to itself, and gives back nothing in its selfish absorption. So that color has become a symbol of death. You see, a true estimate of our lives is not what we give, but what we bestow.
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