“I’d rather have Jesus than anything this world affords today” goes a chorus in a song. But do we really mean it? Luke 21:1-4 relates the incident of Jesus in the temple. “And He looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury. And He saw a poor widow putting in two small copper coins. And He said, “Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all of them; for they all out of their surplus put into the offering; but she out of her poverty put in all that she had to live on.” The rich gave out of their surplus but she, out of deep love, gave her all .
In Romans 08:35-38, Paul is convinced of one thing; God’s love. No matter what happens that fact won’t change. In 1 King 17:09-16, we read the story of the widow of Zarephath. She sacrifices her life, her final meal, in order to serve Elijah, God’s prophet and in return, God takes care of her needs and saves her life. We read of another woman in Mark 14:3-9, who comes to Jesus and pours costly perfume over his head. For her the expensive perfume was nothing compared to serving God. These instances show that God looks for those who give their maximum for him. In John 21:15, Jesus asks Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me more than these?”.The difference between a son and a servant is the love they have for their master or father. A servant does not love his master as much and tries to do the minimum he can for him. On the other hand, a son loves his father very deeply and will give his maximum in order to please his father. We are called to be the children of God and so we too should do the maximum we can for our heavenly father. What is the maximum we can do? It is completely surrendering our body to God. Paul says in Romans 12:1,“Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.” It is not a religious service but a spiritual one. We have to lead our lives in such a way so as to present ourselves as a holy sacrifice to God. As it says in 1 Corinthians 6:19,20 “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore, glorify God in your body.” We are the temple of God, and we should surrender ourselves completely to God, doing our maximum to serve God so that His name be glorified in our body.
May God bless us all.