Humans. What strange creatures. We were created by God, we reject God, He then draws us out of our sin and into His grace, He gives us a promise of eternal life in Heaven with Him, and still we choose to seek instant gratification in this life.
It isn't even sin, necessarily, but objects and possessions. The next iPhone, the next movie, the next TV episode, and the next this or the next that...Well I guess that does make it sin, doesn't it? Things that take away from God and what He has given and what He promises to give.
How many gods do you serve? One? You sure? I have found that I end up serving myself more than anything. I become my own god. What about you? Have you spent more time giving yourself what you think you need than giving God what He commands? I'll be the first to say that I do that.
We live in a time and culture that lives off of indulgence. Just about anything can be gained in an instant. It just depends upon the cost. Is it $50? $150? $500? Maybe a treasured possession? Or maybe the cost is your soul?
There is only one instant gratification that can truly satisfy. That is God's forgiveness of your sins. Being truly contrite and repentant of those sins, God will be faithful to forgive them.
But what about the cost? There are those who would tell you that there is no cost.
That is a LIE.
The cost is your soul.
The cost is slavery. The cost is that your body and soul are now owned by another, for you were bought for a price. A very high price.
There was a man who saw your life. He saw that you are owned by that which you cannot escape. This man then decided to allow others to murder him so that you would be able to escape. This man, this Jesus, this perfect Son of God, purchased you by giving up His life.
He did this because we, humans, are sinners. We have broken God's law. God is just and holy. He cannot allow us to live. This rebelliousness has to be punished, but God does not want anyone to perish. Therefore He offered His son, Jesus, as a substitution for that punishment and Jesus went willingly.
The Bible promises that anyone who confesses that Jesus is Lord (ruler and authority over your life), and truly believes that God raised Him from the dead, that person will be saved.
However, you must know the cost. The cost is serving a God who promises glory and holiness for you in Heaven, while living in a world that hates God. This will not be easy and this will not always be painless, but it will be glorifying to God and sanctifying for you.
The Bible teaches that God causes all things (the good, the bad, and the horrible) to work together for good to those that love Him. That doesn't mean you will have the best life on earth. It means that God is working to complete and perfect you for your life with Him in Eternity.
Serving God may be difficult, but greater is He who is in me, than he who is in the world.
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