Then Judas, His betrayer, seeing that He had been condemned, was full of remorse and returned the 30 pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders. “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood,” he said. “What’s that to us?” they said. “See to it yourself!” So he threw the silver into the sanctuary and departed. Then he went and hanged himself.
Matthew 27:3-5
Can you imagine the life of a disciple? I mean spending all that time with Jesus and watching him perform miracles must have been awesome, right? But what about the constant traveling? What about the fact that they had no place to call home? What about the fact that they had given up everything to follow Christ? Luke was a doctor. He was well educated. I don’t know if doctors made as much money then as they do now, but these men gave up everything, their families, their homes, and their professions to follow Christ. Now when I say these men, I mean Judas Iscariot as well. He too, gave up everything to follow Jesus. But somewhere along the way, his greed got the best of him. He saw an opportunity to make a few quick bucks. He sold Jesus out for 30 pieces of silver.
Now, it’s so easy to look at old Judas and think about what a horrible person he was, right? I have read the story of the crucifixion many times and thought, “how he could such a thing?”. Well, I have come to realize that I have sold Jesus out for a lot less than that. I have sold Jesus out because I have worried about what my friends will think. I have failed to pray in a restaurant because I was afraid people would think I am “one of those Jesus freaks”. I have sold Jesus out for a night out with friends which left me too tired to make church the next day. I have sold Jesus out so that I could go out on the river with my friends on Sunday morning. I have sold Jesus out because I wanted to hang on to that grudge. I have sold Jesus out to satisfy my own selfish desires.
You see what I mean. It’s easy for us to look down our nose at Judas and think about what a horrible person he was, right? But don’t we do the same thing? Sadly, it works about as well for us as it did for Judas. I mean you may not hang yourself out of guilt, but betraying Jesus just left me sad and empty feeling. Oh I had fun for a little while, but I didn’t have unending joy. There is a huge difference between the two.
All that “fun” I was having came at a price. I lost out on all the peace, joy and protection that God provided. I think He definitely continued to look out for me, but I wasn’t in that close relationship with Him like I am now.
When I put Jesus first in my life, then I understood what peace and joy really were. I actually feel His presence and His protection. Now when I first did this, the devil came against me. He tried to make getting to church difficult. It got so bad one Sunday that I stopped my car, after the second road block I encountered, and just told the devil that I was going to church. I told him that I didn’t care if I had to go 50 miles out of my way to get there and got there as it was ending, I was going. I made God my number one priority. I didn’t just go to church, I got involved in church. I began to participate in the fun activities with fellow believers, and then I really knew what fun was. I began working with different programs for outreach and missions. And let me tell you, that has worked out well for me. I don’t miss the late nights out with my friends. I don’t miss the drama that often accompanied that. I don’t miss the Sundays on the river. Come to think of it, a lot of drama came with that too, hmm. I’ve told ya’ll before that I’m a slow learner. But praise God, I finally got it!
It took me a while to get it, but I finally realized that I have been way happier since I committed my life to Christ. I am finally experiencing unending joy. That has worked out very well for me and it will for you too! Don’t take my word for it, see for yourself.
Have a great day!