Why It’s Worth Everything
It’s a hard road. So why walk it? Notice that verses 25, 26 and 27 each begin with the word “For.” Jesus gives reasons.
It’s the only way to find your life. “Whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it” (v. 25). Many of us are building lives that are like sandcastles below the tide line, pouring ourselves into things that can’t last. Jesus says, “Give Me your life, and I’ll give you one that doesn’t wash away.”
Nothing in the world is worth your soul. “For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?” (v. 26). Jim Elliot put it well: “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”
The cross is not the end. Suddenly the tone turns to glory, angels and His return. The disciples heard “killed” and missed “raised.” Jesus points to the other side of the cross. Nothing done for Him is wasted: not a cup of cold water, not a prayer in secret, and certainly not a life lived for Jesus!
And what grace! Peter, who once said “Far be it from You, Lord,” saw that glory on the mountain a week later. He later wrote, “Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps” (1 Peter 2:21). Grace turns a stumbling block into a foundation stone.
So, are you a disciple of Jesus?
Watch the full sermon: Sermon video