We are in the United States during our furlough, and we have experienced many different situations: the food, the weather, the culture, the language, the traffic and more. It has been good to spend this time learning and thinking. After almost four years in the mission field, I can say that we are more used to living without some of the comforts so readily accessible here (electricity and good water, food and roads), but then having them again makes it very easy to wonder, Do we really need to return to the field? Life over here is good, so good!
The counterbalance of this thought comes when remembering stories, names (Auack, Chris, Nani, David, Eusebio, Maua) and experiences in the field. The lives that God has transformed, the people that opened their hearts to Jesus, abandoning beliefs and practices for the love of the Savior, understanding the marvelous plan that the Lord has for them, and many times suffering for this decision, make us rethink.
While we rethink, inevitable questions come: How much is the cost of one soul? What is necessary to do to save someone? What are we willing to abandon to really work for Jesus? The answers come when we sincerely and deeply think about what Jesus did for us. He left heaven and His position. He suffered and was diminished. Why? Because a person, a soul, has great value to Him.
So I think that if I am really a Christ follower, I can and should give up some things. I need to be willing to pay the price of being a witness of Christ — many in Guinea-Bissau are paying so great a price to follow Jesus and love Him — and I should be willing to pay much more because God paid the highest possible price for my life and the lives of many. Anything I do will still be little. Anything I leave behind will still be nothing. Any amount I can pay will still be insufficient.
Considering this helps me to think about when Paul said, “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” (Philippians 3:8).
What are you willing to lose? What can you do to save a soul? What price are you ready to pay to follow Jesus?
