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UNFAIR TRADE

If you’ve made it this far, it’s possible you’re feeling a little overwhelmed right now. For the last four days, we’ve looked at all this stuff that isn’t necessarily bad (in fact, some of it is very good), but that can so often become the thing we hold tightly in our fists, refusing to let go. Jesus said some pretty direct things about all of that and He doesn’t hide the fact that following Him is not an easy task. 

But before you think Jesus is asking too much of us, pause and consider who gets the better end of this deal; Jesus asks us to give up (or at least reduce the priority level of) our stuff, our relationships, our methods of escape, and even our comfort or plans for our lives. That’s a lot of deeply personal stuff that we’re being called to lay out before Him…to unclench our fists and let go of. But Jesus only asks that of us so that He can give us something so much better; in fact, He’s offering to give us the very things we were searching for when we first picked up that stuff in the first place. He offers joy, hope, peace, comfort, and real, eternal, abundant life. 

So, Jesus is asking us to lay all this stuff down before Him. He won’t even actually take all of it out of your life completely…He just wants the harmful stuff gone and the good stuff to be secondary to Him. And in exchange for all those cheap substitutes, He offers you what your heart has truly been longing for. Seems like an unfair trade to me, but we get the way better end of that deal!

I don’t know what your life is looking like right now, and I don’t know which of these things is the hardest for you to let go of. What I do know is that Jesus loves you more than you can fully understand and ALL He wants is what is absolutely best for you. Will you put down the stuff that’s keeping you from taking hold of Him? 

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