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bigmike

The Price of Faithful Service
Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
Philippians 2:5-8
In 1893 three missionaries from Canada traveled to Africa and began what became known as the Sudan Interior Mission. The work was hard, and the initial response was discouraging. The climate and diseases took their toll, and within less than two years, two of the three were dead. The one survivor, Rowland Bingham, returned to Canada and met with their families. He later wrote, “I visited Mrs. Gowans to take her the few personal belongings of her son. She met me with an extended hand. We stood there in silence. Then she said these words: 'Well, Mr. Bingham, I would rather have had Walter go out to Sudan and die there, all alone, than have him home today, disobeying his Lord.'"
Doing what God calls us to do is not going to be easy or painless. Often it requires sacrifice, sometimes great sacrifice. Often it creates opposition, sometimes to the point of persecution. Often it means giving up things to which we are entitled, sometimes things that are dear to us. But that is exactly what Jesus did. He laid aside the glory and majesty that were rightfully His and came to earth to be our Savior. “For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich” (2 Corinthians 8:9).
When we talk about following Jesus and living like Him, we are talking about a life that is lived for others rather than ourselves, and a life that is willing to pay the price for obeying God and fulfilling His will.
No matter what God's will requires of us, it is always worth any sacrifice for Him.
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