Being a Christian is a huge risk. If it doesn’t feel that way, then you’re not doing it right.

Jesus requires everything of His followers. If I prioritize anything more than Him, I am not worthy of being His disciple. If I love my child more than I love Him, I am disqualified. If I love my job, my home, my peaceful neighborhood, my looks, my reputation, my plans, my comfort, my politics, my savings or anything at all more than I love Jesus, I am unfit to call myself a Christian.

That means everything I am and everything I have belongs to Him and can be used or taken away at His whim, for any reason. He doesn’t even need to tell me the reason.

“Then Jesus said to his disciples, ‘If anyone wants to follow after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.’” (Matthew‬ ‭16‬:‭24,‬ ‭CSB‬‬)

In exchange for this, I receive life from Him. Eternal life, in fact. I won’t receive the deserved punishment of death that I have earned but will be saved to spend eternity marveling in joy at His beauty.

But I must give the life I have here and now to Him. I can’t “have my cake and eat it too.” I can’t go on living my life for me, and still get the life He offers.

So, I have to choose. That’s the risk of faith. I gamble everything on God and win eternal life, or I hedge my bets now and lose it all in the end. If you know God, you know He’s a safe bet. I’m all in.

Dear God,

Thank you for the beautiful and generous offer of salvation you made through Jesus. Help me keep up my end of the bargain. You are my highest priority. Everything I have is yours to use as you see fit. Thank you for the reminder not to become too attached to any of the people or things you have blessed me with. You are truly all I need.