Following Jesus comes at a cost.  Everyone who has taken seriously the call of Jesus to follow Him; to walk in obedience, to love sacrificially, to leave the world behind and set their hope fully on Him, knows that there is a price to be paid.  It may be paid in comfort, it may be paid in lost friendships, or in a myriad of ways.

Paul was a man who was held in the highest of esteem in Jewish society.  He had risen within society to become a Pharisee, a respected religious leader among the Jewish people.  In most every way outwardly, his life was going well.

After Jesus called Paul, he lost everything.  In 2 Corinthians 11:24-27 Paul says of himself – “Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. ²⁵ Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; ²⁶ on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; ²⁷ in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure.”

It was with this in mind that Paul tells us – Philippians 3:7-8 – “whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. ⁸ Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.”

Following Christ will lead to suffering.  That may not sound like great news, but I’m going to shoot you straight – life will be hard sometimes – often, because we make the choice to follow God instead of what seems right in our own eyes.  Why do we do it?  Look at the verb tense of Paul’s words – “knowing”.  Often as Christians we consider the gospel as past tense rather than present and future.  For Paul, and for us, each day we are given the opportunity to know more of Christ, were true peace and joy can be found.  We give up everything, because we know God, and believe Him to be the source of a greater joy than what the world can offer.  We eagerly participate in this life in the power of the Spirit of God that indwells us, walking the works He has for us daily, looking forward to the day when our faith becomes sight, the partial becomes full.  The sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared to the glory that is to be revealed to us.

God loves you and is for you – keep running strong towards Him today.

Grace and Peace,

Adam