“And he said unto them, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or parents, or brethren, or wife, or children, for the kingdom of God’s sake, who shall not receive manifold more in this present time, and in the world to come life everlasting.” – Luke 18:29-30

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Several years ago, my family had a problem with moles. They continually tunneled through our yard leaving piles of dirt behind. If you were to look across our lawn back then, you would have seen a section of grass, a pile of dirt, another section of grass, another pile of dirt . . .

One day I learned of a man who would come to your house with traps and catch the moles. Though this was exactly what we needed, I was not willing to pay the price for his services. I did not know what the cost was, but I was sure it would be too high. However, after no success in getting rid of the moles on my own, I finally called the mole man and asked about his fee. He said he charged five dollars to set the traps and five dollars for every mole he caught. I paid the price, and it was a bargain! In no time, our mole problem was resolved, and I wished I had called sooner. If I had, my yard would not have been ruined!

As Christians, there are times when we need to pay a price spiritually. As we seek for our deeper experiences or continue growing in our relationship with God, He will require consecrations. To receive God’s blessing, we must fully surrender the things He asks for and yield our lives completely to Him. Sometimes this seems difficult, because the devil does not want us to yield. A spiritual battle may ensue—the enemy will tell us the price is too high. He will make the sacrifice seem bigger than it is, and he will try to keep us from thinking about what we will gain in return. However, Jesus is there to help. He wants us to receive all of God’s blessings. Everything He asks of us is for the good of our souls, and truly the price is a bargain.

Today we can search our hearts and see if God is asking for a deeper commitment from us. If He is, let’s pay the price and say yes to God. It will be worth it! As today’s focus verse says, the Lord will reward us for every sacrifice made for Him, both in this life and in eternity. Once we have made that decision, we will only wish we had done it sooner.