Worth Dying For

John 12:20-33:

Some Greeks who had come to worship at the Passover Feast came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, “Sir, we would like to see Jesus.” Philip went and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Amen, amen, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will preserve it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there also will my servant be. The Father will honor whoever serves me. “I am troubled now.  Yet what should I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But it was for this purpose that I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it and will glorify it again.” The crowd there heard it and said it was thunder; but others said, “An angel has spoken to him.” Jesus answered and said, “This voice did not come for my sake but for yours. Now is the time of judgment on this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out. And when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to myself.” He said this indicating the kind of death he would die.

Blog:

During our earthly journeys, we often get asked what we’re willing to do to obtain something – some feat, achievement, status, reward, etc.  One of my Sons loves to sing and I can still remember when he shared with my Wife and I what a customer at his cashier’s check-out station had asked him one night.  Our Son was carrying on a conversation with an older gentleman and the topic had turned to what our Son was thinking about doing after high school.  When our Son shared a few details about how he’d love to sing for a living, the gentleman’s demeanor turned a bit darker.  He then turned to our Son and asked, “yeah, but would you be willing to sell your Soul for it?”  My Wife and I shared the same chills upon hearing this question that our Son had experienced when he had heard it.  There aren’t too many things in life worth dying for, but there is One Person that requires a complete surrender of our lives – Jesus.  Success, money, casual relationships, a big house, etc. – if we’re not careful, we can find ourselves dying to worldly things and moving “in the wrong direction”.  You see, satan never sleeps – he prowls around 24/7/365 looking for Souls to devour.  And he shows-up everywhere – in our homes, in our check-out lanes, in our Churches, in our social media feeds, etc.  But here’s the thing – so does God.  God is there with us each and every time that satan shows-up.  God’s got an Eternal GPS tracker on the devil that always keeps Him one step ahead of satan.  And this drives satan mad.  Jesus was willing to die for every single person that has ever lived (or will ever live) on this planet.  His Grace and Mercy span time, generations, ages, etc. and live on into Eternity.  And we can never out-sin God.  But we can turn our backs on Him and sell-out to the darkness.  No matter how or when we sin, the only thing that we need to do at any moment is just to turn away from satan, turn towards God (who’s always there), and ask God for His forgiveness.  If anyone anywhere ever tells us anything different about God’s Infinite Love, Mercy, Forgiveness, and Grace, they just might on the wrong-end of the “Soul” business.