Today’s verses says: “Truly I tell you,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—along with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal lif.”
My brother, my sister, God is not playing with us. He is the Almighty and He is at work for us, in us and through us. God is no-one’s debtor. He will keep His promises. He will give us back everything we give to Him, with interest, even if for some the reward has to wait until they get to heaven. Jesus can be trusted. He says you cannot leave anything for Him without receiving it back a hundred times in this present age. And check that in this sentence, He is not talking in the furture, He says “no one who has left… will receive”. You don’t need to hold back what you should be giving to Him today (your life, your family, your time, your money). Nothing you give Him is wasted, in the contrary it is safely stored and producing uncountable interest for you, which you might start getting back even in this life.
This passage points out two main problems we see in our churches today. The first is that many believers wonder why God has not blessed them. My friend, Be careful what you long for because sometimes God comes as a refiner of gold first, to clean up our impurities, to make us godlier first, and that can be a painful process. The end result is a good thing anyway, because what could bring more blessing than a life that has been purified by God? If you have expected God to manifest Himself and He still has not done it, ask yourself: what have I really left to follow Jesus and the Gospel so far? Sometimes the Lord wants to test our loyalty towards Him through our gift to Him. Saying you have given your life to Christ could be just pretty words. Does He see it the way you are saying it?
The second issue is that of faith and trust in God. Are you willing to risk giving to the Lord at least one tenth of all that is precious to you? My friend, do you trust God enough to give up something that is as valuable to you as your family, your life, your money, your wages, your economic security as part of your worship of him, oras part of your acknowledgement that He is the one and only God? God the Father gave what was most precious to Him, His only Son, Jesus! Therefore, we, the Christians of today should stop playing with God, because He does not play with us. We must always keep in mind that none of us will ever be able to match what God has done for us on the cross. So let’s stop taking the cross for granted and become generous and cheerful givers in the image of our Father, for His purposes in our lives are fulfilled when He sees us as His son and daughters, and not simple believers who make rash promises and never kept them, or believers who listen to His Word, but never practice it. Stay blessed in Jesus’ name.