The “Other” Promises – Houses, Friends & Family
August 20, 2007
Dear Friends,
One of the other promises made to believers is found in Mark 10:29, 30.
And Jesus answered and said, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel’s, but he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life.
Abraham’s first promise was conditional. God’s blessing was predicated on Abraham’s obedience to His command to leave the land (see Gen. 12:1-3). The following promises from God were unconditional. Similarly, this promise from Jesus to us is conditional. We must leave our house and families in the spiritual sense just as Abraham had to leave behind his own family in the physical sense. We would understand this to mean that we must put God and Christ above everything including those things most precious to us – our family. I would add that when we love God and Christ more than our families we still love our families more than we would if we did not put God first. Putting the love of God first is, for lack of a better analogy, like putting our love on steroids. We love everyone – family, friends, strangers and even enemies – more.
The point which we want to emphasize here however is the promise that is attached to the condition. If we will love God to this extent, we will receive a hundred times that right NOW and in the age to come eternal life. What an amazing promise! What exactly does this mean? Is this like those who preach “prosperity theology” that if we give up $1 we will get $10 in return. No! The teaching is much more subtle than that.
If we give up the things of this world and have no- holds barred love of God and Christ, we will instantly be bonded with those of a similar faith in a manner that is beyond comprehension to most people. I can speak from my own personal experience that I have friends all over this planet that I can call on in a moment’s notice. Their house is, in a manner of speaking, my house. I am welcome there anytime. Their families are my families. If I really need them, they are there. What a tremendous blessing! This is in addition to the hope that we have in the world to come and can be experienced right now. Perhaps if we are not experiencing this right now it is because we have not really met the condition put upon us yet.
Now, in the spirit of full disclosure, we need to point out that one of the things that we will receive right now in addition to those blessings of family and houses if we meet the condition of loving God and Christ is persecutions. Jesus said “Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.” (John 15:20) I can also say from personal experience that this is also true. The not-so-obvious thing is that all of these persecutions are entirely bearable with the love of God, Christ and the myriad of brethren you have around you. We can learn to, like the apostles, go forth from those trials “rejoicing that [we are] counted worthy to suffer shame for his name.” (Acts 5:41)
Have a great week,
