Welcome to the Thee Generation Podcast. I’m Bobby Bosler and I’m speaking to you today from Pensacola, New Jersey. That’s right, my family and I have made our annual trek out to the East Coast where we just got about a foot of snow dumped on us over the last couple of days. But I’m just thankful that I can have snow and not have to deal with it in the trailer at the moment. But anyway, I’m in the holiday spirit right now. I know Christmas is coming up here soon. And many times when we think of holidays, we think of family, we think of, oh, admit it, you think of presents and different things like that. But you know, there’s something that I don’t know that we often think of when we think of the holidays. You know, Christmas is a time when Jesus came, and he came to earth on a specific mission, and he expects us to follow him in that mission. And the mission was to rescue all of mankind from the consequences of their sin. His job was to prepare the gospel, to provide for the gospel, and then to commission his disciples to go and preach the gospel. Our job is a little different. Our job is to preach the gospel. That being said, the call to surrender our lives to Jesus Christ is a call to completely and totally dedicate ourselves to that mission. There’s a passage that I want to share with you here today that the Lord has used in my family’s life many, many times over the last 10 years or so. And something that motivates us, something that encourages us, to be honest with you, when we get a little discouraged in the accomplishment of our mission. And something that I trust will not only be an encouragement to you, young people, but I pray that it will be a motivation to you as well. As we’re tempted to get very much focused on things during this time of year, and as we enjoy our families, many of us, we still need to keep the mission. in perspective. I’m looking at Mark chapter 10 verses 28 and following. Here, Peter had a statement to make to Jesus, and he said this, then Peter began to say unto him, lo, we have left all and have followed thee. Peter here at this moment in time was making an admission, a true statement. he told Jesus, listen, Jesus, we’ve left everything behind and we’ve followed you. And I want you to know, young people, that’s what God expects out of every one of us. If we’re going to truly be his disciples, we need to follow Jesus and Jesus will make us fishers of men. It doesn’t matter what time of year it is. It doesn’t matter if there’s snow on the ground. It doesn’t matter if it’s blazing hot outside. It doesn’t matter if you’re off to college or still at home in high school. It doesn’t matter if you’re currently a student or you’re no longer a student. It doesn’t matter if it’s during the semester or while you’re on break. I just want you to know Jesus expects us to forsake all and follow him. But if you read between the lines here of what Peter is saying, I can understand this because I’ve experienced this. Peter, even though he’s saying, listen, Jesus, we’ve left all and followed you. There’s almost a sense in which Peter’s whining, either whining or he’s wondering when this is all going to make sense. You could say that Peter saying, hey, we’ve left all and followed you. So any emotions with his hand. So what are you going to do about it, Jesus? You know, I want you to understand something. The call to follow Jesus is sometimes a call to sacrifice stuff. Sometimes in the pursuit of Jesus, there are things that you don’t get. And this is going to become clear as Jesus responds to Peter. There are going to be some things that you choose to give up. There are going to be some things that you could get if you didn’t follow Jesus that you may not get if you do follow Jesus, at least in the short term. And Peter is in a certain sense saying, listen, Jesus, we’ve paid a high price to follow you. There’s a lot that we have opted out of in order to follow you. Now, let me say this, young people. There may be a lifestyle that you cannot have if you’ll follow Jesus. In other words, we look outside at the American dream and maybe even look at your parents and maybe your parents are pretty well off. Maybe you’ve got a nice house. Maybe your folks have multiple vehicles and you’re in a good school. I want you to know if you follow Jesus, you may not be able to have any of those things. Maybe your parents have the latest and greatest in electronic devices. Maybe they’ve got an Apple Watch or a nice MacBook Pro or something like that. Maybe they got one of those new M1 MacBook Airs that can outperform some of the most expensive of the previous generation. Those of you that know me know how much that statement hurts there. But maybe they have the latest and the greatest. They’re constantly on the cutting edge. Maybe they’ve got a bank account with quite a bit in savings. Maybe your folks and maybe you and your family, you’ve always had the nicest clothes. You’ve always had a comfortable roof over your heads. You’ve had security and predictability. Maybe you and your situation have always been close to your family. Maybe they’ve always been within arm’s reach, and there’s never been a time when you’ve even considered the fact that Jesus might call you to go somewhere else. Young people, I just want to say that sometimes the call to follow Jesus is a call to not have the latest and the greatest. Sometimes it’s a call to not have comfortable living conditions. Sometimes it’s a call to not have a predictable level of income. Sometimes it’s a call to go far, far away from friends, from family, and from security. And I speak from experience here, young people, just to be perfectly honest with you. Sometimes it can weigh on you. Sometimes in a pursuit of the gospel and in a pursuit of God’s plan, you find yourself without and you look around at other people that maybe aren’t following Jesus and you see what they have. Or maybe you look around at other people that are following Jesus in a different way or they have a different calling and they seem to have a level of security that you don’t have. They seem to have a family support system that maybe you don’t have and they seem to have a lot of things that you don’t have. And it’s easy to get sorry for, feel sorry for yourself. And I want you to know young people that as Peter is speaking here, you may not understand what he’s saying, but I do. And he’s saying, Jesus, we’ve left everything and we’ve followed you. And there’s a certain sense what’s implied is, is this really even worth it, Jesus? I mean, we’ve done something real good, haven’t we, Jesus? When are we going to see the payoff? When are we going to see the reward for our sacrifice? Because following Jesus is following him to his cross. It is following him to sacrifice your dreams, your comfort, and your lifestyle. But I want you to notice the words of Jesus in reply. And Jesus answered and said, Verily I say unto you. Now, let me just say this. Whenever Jesus says, Verily I say unto you, he’s saying, listen, what I’m about to say is true. And the reason why he even said, obviously everything that he says is true, but he really wants to underscore the fact that this is truth you’re going to need. And look at what he says. Verse 29 of Mark 10, he says, There is no man that hath left house. or brethren or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands for my sake and the gospels. But he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time houses and brethren and sisters and mothers and children and lands with persecutions. And in the world to come, eternal life. Now, what Jesus is saying here simply is, listen, Peter, I know that you’ve left a lot. I understand that you’ve sacrificed much for two reasons. Number one, for my sake. Number two, for the gospel. You’re following me and you’re pursuing my mission for your life. You’ve forsaken house. a roof over your head predictable standard of living you forsaken brethren sisters father mother you have in a certain sense uh gone and and left your family support system he says or wife or children there’s a certain sense in which at times um you have actually not been able to provide for your family like you would like to. At times, you’ve even lost your wife or your children. Again, that’s kind of a difficult thought there. Or lands. You’ve left the place that you’re familiar with, but you’ve done it for my sake and you’ve done it for the gospel. And he says, but I want you to know that I am going to bless you an hundredfold now in this time. You know, a lot of times when I personally have thought of the blessings of following Jesus and sacrificing much for the sake of his mission and his cause in my life, I’ve thought, well, I’m going to look forward to heaven. You know, there’s going to be a great payoff when I enter glory. You know, there may be a lot of other people. They’ve got a lot of security in their lives that I don’t have. And that’s fine. I’m following Jesus just like they are. But I believe that for the lack of security that I might be experiencing in this time, I’m going to experience an amazing payback when I enter glory. But that’s not what he’s saying here. He’s not saying, and he’ll get to it, but he’s not saying first and foremost, there’s going to be a great payoff in eternity. He’s saying that I’m going to reward you now in this life. he says he shall receive a hundredfold now in this time houses brethren sisters mothers children lands along with persecution okay it’s not going to be easy it’s not necessarily going to be a smooth ride but I am going to bless you and for my wife and I the the one word that really spoke to us was that word houses for those of you that that know us a little bit better we live in an RV for most of the year. And so as we travel, we travel our home, we pull behind us with our truck. And even when we’re at home in Menominee Falls, we live in our RV, which Menominee Falls, Wisconsin, isn’t known for its hot weather during the winter months. And so sometimes we actually have to evacuate our home and we go out to New Jersey where we spend time with family. But, you know, back before we even had a trailer, we felt very much like vagabonds. We felt very much somewhat homeless in the pursuit of the ministry. We didn’t have a house. And so we were going from prophet’s chamber to prophet’s chamber, following the Lord, spending our lives for the gospel. And I remember as we began to pray for a trailer, the first trailer, I remember thinking, man, we can’t afford this. You know, we don’t make a lot of money in youth evangelism. That’s not where the money is for sure. And that’s not why we’re doing it. But I remember my wife pointed out this verse to me and she said, look at this, look at this. He didn’t just say in eternity. He said now. And I remember God began to encourage my faith that he could provide for us. And around that time, we began to really feel the need. We needed an RV, not because we wanted to be one of those RV-toting evangelists, but because being an itinerant preacher and traveling on a regular basis, You need some kind of security and stability that that provides. And so we began on the basis of this promise to seek the Lord for a trailer. And again, the rest is history. Those of you that have followed this podcast know that God provided for us just like he’ll provide for you. But I want you to know, young people, the choice to follow Jesus is a choice to sacrifice those things. And you no longer are the one that guarantees those provisions. Jesus is the one who guarantees those provisions now the challenge with this is that it’s not always on your timetables it’s not always exactly when you would want it it’s when you need it and Jesus here is saying listen I want you to know you have forsaken all for me and I’m going to take care of you in this life but furthermore he says and in the world to come eternal life now he’s not saying that we work and serve God in order to obtain eternal life. What he’s teaching here is you are going to experience this amazing blessing and reward in your eternal life. And you know, I guess I don’t want this to be a discouraging talk here. I want this to be a motivating talk for you young people. The pursuit of Jesus is many times a forsaking of what you could obtain on your own if you didn’t follow Jesus. However, in the pursuit of Jesus and in the pursuit of his mission, he’s got you covered. He will take care of you. And young people, I want to say just by way of personal testimony, we’ve not always had everything that we’ve wanted, but we have always had everything that we needed. We have never lacked the basic necessities of life. And in fact, Jesus has provided many times far beyond that which we deserve, and even at many times far beyond what we’ve needed. And yet at times it’s smart. So I think Peter here, as he was saying this, it was smarting to him the sacrifice that he had made. And yet in the process, Jesus is encouraging. He’s not saying it’s going to be easy. There are going to be persecutions and hard times along with it. But he will guarantee our provision. So young people, in the pursuit of surrendering everything to Jesus, here during this holiday time, as you’re enjoying time with family, as you’re enjoying maybe a few devices and gifts that you didn’t have coming into the Christmas season, as you’re maybe, maybe you’re in a place where because you follow Jesus, you do find yourself in a time of financial need, and maybe you and your family are smarting as a result of following Jesus. Please be encouraged. The payoff will be totally worth it in heaven, but continue following Jesus. Don’t let the need of the moment knock you off the path of pursuing Jesus and pursuing his plan. He’ll take care of you. And, you know, even as you look down the halls of the future, count the cost. If you’re not willing to give up a comfortable lifestyle to follow Jesus, why don’t you just unsubscribe from this podcast? If you’re not willing to give up the latest and the greatest to pursue the gospel and to proclaim Jesus, do me a favor, unsubscribe from my email list and unsubscribe from this podcast. As much as I would like to encourage you and as much as I would like on this podcast to be a motivation and an inspiration to you, if you’re not willing to do that, this content isn’t really for you. This is for those that are spiritually sensitive, those who really do want to be surrendered to Jesus Christ. And as we surrender to him, we depend on him to provide for us and on him to enable us to obey and on him to fill us with his life and his love and his joy and his peace. And in so doing, we will find that we will turn the world upside down for Jesus Christ. Merry Christmas, friends. Happy New Year. And as you pursue His plan, let’s look to Him for His direction and for His provision.