In recent years, there’s been a rise of subscription apps. They got them for TV, groceries and a host of other things. The market place is getting crowded, so they’ve started to add incentives. I didn’t even consider getting the grocery app I have now until they started adding benefits to owning it. I get ten cents off a gallon of gas, which adds up to offset the cost. I also get free deliver of online items or even in store groceries. They also added a year’s subscription to a TV app to the benefits package. All of a sudden it had enough value for me to go ahead and pay. To me, the benefits now outweigh what it costs me to make it worth it. We do this same analysis in many areas of our lives.
If you’re familiar with the Bible, you’ve probably heard that Hebrews 11 has been called the Hall of Faith. It’s full of people in the Bible who had to trust God through difficult circumstances. They held onto their faith in God when all seemed lost. Verse 37 says, “Some of these faith champions were brutally killed by stoning, being sawn in two or slaughtered by the sword. These lived in faith as they went about wearing goatskins and sheepskins for clothing. They lost everything they possessed, they endured great afflictions, and they were cruelly mistreated” (TPT). Each of the heroes of the faith paid a high price, but they keep the benefits of following God in mind to help them endure. Many never saw the fulfillment of their promise from God, but because they held onto their faith, their future generations did.
Romans 6:22 says, “But now, as God’s loving servants, you live in joyous freedom from the power of sin. So consider the benefits you now enjoy—you are brought deeper into the experience of true holiness that ends with eternal life!” You and I must also keep in mind the benefits that God offers us as we continue down the path of Christianity. You may not be faced with the same hardships these heroes of the faith had to, but you will still face difficulty times and be forced to trust in God instead of your circumstances. Our faith comes at a cost to us. It is freely given to us, but living in the world while being separate from it can be difficult at times. Trusting God over what we see can exact a price in our lives. Always keep in mind that God has more in store for us than we can even comprehend now. Remember all His benefits and hold fast to your faith. He will always do what He promised.
Photo by Sergi Kabrera on Unsplash
Devotions by Chris Hendrix 