Today’s Daily Lesson comes from Matthew chapter 19 verses 27 through 29:
27 Then Peter said in reply, ‘Look, we have left everything and followed you. What then will we have?’28Jesus said to them, ‘Truly I tell you, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man is seated on the throne of his glory, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 29And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields, for my name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold, and will inherit eternal life.
I have a beautiful photo from one of our family’s last days at Second B which means so much to me. It’s a picture of our youngest in profile looking up somberly into the eyes of an old Korean War veteran who is seated with a cane in his hand. The old man is looking back down, the glimmer of a tear refusing to be held back from his eye. On the outside he’s an old, hardened Marine, but on the inside he’s tender and loving. They are both saying goodbye.
Church can be hard. It can be demanding. Sometimes staying in church can be downright costly. I have friends who have had to part ways with family, friends, and even their jobs in order to remain a part of their church and what it stands for.
Today’s Lesson promises that no one who has worked for, lived in, and loved the Church has ever received less than what they put into it. “Everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields, for my name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold,” Jesus says.
My picture proves it’s true.
Church can be costly. There’s no denying it. And belonging to a good church will be. A good and faithful church will demand something significant of us. Yet we receive so much in return — so much love, and friendship, and care, and community, and casseroles!
“And in the age to come, eternal life.”
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