Find all in Christ

“And everyone who has given up houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or property, for my sake, will receive a hundred times as much in return and will inherit eternal life.” Matthew 19:29 NLT

In an article published by Runners World on January 10 titled “The Boulder Running Community Bands Together in the Wake of the Marshall Fire,” the following was reported... in the wake of the Marshall Fire, the Boulder County running community has come together to support one another. Monarch High School track and cross country coaches Maddie Alm and Laura Thweatt—who are also professional runners—were devastated to learn how the fire affected their student-athletes. Six families with runners on the Monarch team lost their homes. “We just couldn’t even begin to imagine being 15, 16, 17 years old and having the life you knew gone within a matter of hours,” Thweatt told Runner's World. “Our community faces an extremely challenging and long road ahead, but I am hopeful that we will heal,” she continued. “The only way to do that is by supporting one another, lifting one another [up], and reminding those who lost everything that they are not alone.”

And you know, when it comes to losing everything, the Bible tells us that everyone who voluntarily gives up “houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or property, for my sake, will receive a hundred times as much in return and will inherit eternal life.” What does that mean exactly? Charles Spurgeon explains it this way, “No man shall be a loser by the Lord Jesus in the long run. Every one that hath bravely forsaken the comforts of this life for Christ shall receive an hundredfold recompense. Our Lord makes up to the persecuted all that which they part with for his sake.... Beyond this, when time ceases, there remains endless bliss; for we shall inherit everlasting life. Oh, that we may never hesitate to be glad losers for Jesus! They who lose all for Christ will find all in Christ, and receive all with Christ.” Do you just love that or what?

So let us remember that Christ is all we need friends; both in this life and in the hereafter. After all, as the Bible clearly tells us, “we brought nothing with us when we came into the world, and we can’t take anything with us when we leave it.” Let us be willing to lose all for Christ, then, knowing we find all in Christ, and receive all with Christ. 

Heavenly Father, thank you for reminding us that nothing in this world lasts forever. Help us then to value You above all things, all pursuits, and all relationships so that we would seek You above all worldly things. Father, we pray for the people of Boulder who lost their homes and their possessions. May they find comfort in You as they heal and rebuild from the fire. It’s in your precious name we pray Jesus. Amen.

Happy Running!!!