Sacrifice
When you really believe in the value of something, you will make the necessary sacrifices.
Giuseppe Garibaldi lived from 1807 to 1882. He was an Italian patriot and soldier. He devoted his life to the cause of uniting Italy. His greatest victory was the 1860 overthrow of the kingdom of Naples. That event ultimately led to the unification of Italy. In May of that year, Garibaldi had landed in Sicily with a volunteer force of 1,070 men. Within two weeks this force had taken the city of Palermo, forcing the capitulation of an army of 20,000.
Garibaldi had an incredibly committed volunteer army. He appealed to recruits in these terms: "I offer neither pay, nor quarters, nor provisions. I offer hunger, thirst, forced marches, battles and death. Let him who loves his country with his heart and with his lips, follow me…." He was keenly aware of a truth many of us miss: A valuable cause is more powerful than the promise of money, fame, comfort, or success.
Jesus did not mince words about the sacrifice we would have to make to follow him.
He asked us to turn our backs on everything to follow him, even our very selves, saying, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it” (Matt. 16:24-25).
In another place he asked us to put him before our families: “For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a person's enemies will be those of his own household. Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me” (Matt. 10:34-37).
He asked the Rich Young Ruler to sell all of his possessions and give the proceeds to the poor (Mark 10:17-22).
Furthermore, he asked us to give up the pleasures of sin. Using the example of Moses, the writer of Hebrews said, “By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward” (Heb. 11:24-26).
Do we love the kingdom of God enough to give up everything to obtain it? When you understand its value, you do.
Drew Kizer