by Dr. Paul Jehle
“But he shall receive a hundredfold in this time… and in the world to come” Mark 10:30
Going through the book of Mark verse by verse has helped us to see that the focus of the Christian walk is on Christ; His nature, His ability and His grace.
All of what Christ did is wonderful, from healing and deliverance to miracles, but this should not be our focus. Our focus, our prayer, and our lives should be on emulating Christ.
As we now come to the final five or six chapters of the book of Mark, the intensity of the teaching rises and we must remember that these lessons were taught during the final week called Passion Week leading up to His crucifixion and resurrection.
What we do with Christ affects eternity. Many people “don’t think past lunch” much less to eternity, but following Christ and allowing His life to be lived through us is learning to make every decision with eternity in mind.
When Peter began to brag about the disciples being so committed to their Lord in comparison to all the others around them, he made a serious mistake. He declared “Look, Lord, we have left all to follow you.”
Jesus was quick to respond that no, they had not left “all”, for they still had families, homes and jobs to which they were committed and had responsibility.
Their focus was on themselves, not Christ and eternity. Jesus said there are those who will pay a dear price for following Him – losing their marriages, families, homes and lands. But if they do this out of devotion to Christ they will be blessed a hundredfold in this life as well as the next.
If God should so choose for us to lose all – so be it. The important thing is to focus on the person of Christ and the value of Eternity!