11-15-23-ENG.

"What does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul?"

Mark 8:36 
THE WHOLE STORY
 
Read It: Mark 8:34-36
One of the things I love about the Lord Jesus is that you can always depend on Him to tell you the whole story. Jesus wouldn't hand you a rose without warning you to watch out for the thorns. He wouldn't tell you the good news and skip the bad. And He wouldn't call you to follow Him without telling you the cost involved in being His disciple. Satan isn't like that. He only tells you half of the story. He only wants you to see the up side of sin. He doesn't want you to know you're heading ing toward a dead end called hell. Sometimes you don't even get the whole story in church. Everyone is all dressed up, looking good. But if you could see behind the scenes, you would see the rest of the story. One thing you get to see in the ministry is the other half of the story. You find out where people live and how they are hurting. So Jesus always gives you the whole story. That's what I need to do too if I'm going to be faithful to Him and to you.

So this week we're going to talk about the sacrifice of commitment. Now I know that sacrifice isn't a fun word. Most of us don't want to hear about what we have to give up, what we have to turn loose of, to follow Jesus. We want to know what we will be given and what we can hang onto as we walk with the Lord. Some of Jesus' disciples really get off on talking about the kingdom, the power, and the glory. And those are all real. We just spent a week looking ing at the power of commitment. But if you and I are going to apply the mind of Christ to our daily lives, we have to think with His whole mind. And one of the things on Jesus' mind is the cost of commitment, the sacrifice required to be His disciple. But you know what? If you're really in love with Jesus, the stuff He asks you to give up is no big deal. Think About It What Jesus asks you to give up are the baubles and trinkets of this world in exchange for all the riches of heaven. What a deal!