I have given up nothing

There are times where I begin to truly count the cost of following this Christ. There are things I don't "do" as a follower. There are things I don't say. My ambition in certain areas is curbed.

The stakes are raised. Some in my life don't understand my faith, or pretend not to. Some scorn. Some talk behind my back.

So why do it?

Lately this world seems to be calling me, seducing me, with intense ferocity. It wants me. It speaks sweetly to me. Every rationalization seems to be at my lips.

Here is my answer.

"But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ.

"More than that...I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things.

"And I count them but garbage, so that I may gain Christ." - Paul, Phil. 3

That word, garbage, is in the Greek skubalon. Refuse. Excrement. A polite way of saying "shit".

In other words, I have given up...nothing. Rather, I have gained everything. I begin to grasp the slightest understanding of the WAY, the דרך, the journey towards G-d. Whatever I have given up to get this far: IT WAS WORTH IT.

As Hebrews notes of our fate, we are but wayward travelers, passing through. This strange firmament is not our home. Thank YHWH.