This sounds nice. Jesus is all we need. We Christians believe this, but as we look around our life what do we see? We live in beautiful homes; have a closet full of clothes and drive nice cars. Our children and grandchildren have practically everything they want. We spend most of our life trying to collect as many material things as we possibly can. We want it all.
However, the Apostle Paul knew exactly what it meant to live for Christ and not the world. He started his adult life as a Pharisee in the Jewish order. The Pharisees were known for their tenacity to their faith. He did, in fact, have so strong a faith that he was persecuting and killing Christians. He believed they were wrong in believing in Jesus and in doing so they were blaspheming God.
Paul completely dedicated his life to the Lord. He traveled miles and miles on foot to share the Good News of the Gospel. He suffered countless beatings, stoning, imprisonment, shipwrecks, and lost all his material possessions in service to the Lord.
In his letter to the Philippians in chapter 3 verse 8 he says, ‘What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage that I may gain Christ…”
What a radical change he received when he met the risen Lord Jesus on the road to Damascus. This should be a lesson to us all. There is no sin too great for God to forgive and there is no person so far from Christ that the Holy Spirit can’t change. Take heart and let Him change you and use you. You will be blessed beyond measure.