A sell-out

Just last Sunday morning we were discussing the bandwagoning that goes on in life. People who are big fans of a team or a certain school will change with the drop of a dime. I have lots of friends who were NFL fans back in the late 80's to early 90's who liked the 49ers, they were "huge fans" but guess what, they are never seen wearing 49ers gear anymore. Most of them wear COlts, Patriots maybe Cowboys or Giants. I for one have been a Redskins fan through the thick and through the extremely thin. I have been with them through losing season after losing season and a few good ones, but never changed.
The person I was illustrating was Saul, who later became Paul. He was originally on the side of the people who were persecuting the Christians, especially as he was there watching as Stephen was stoned to death by an angry mob of Pharisees and religious leaders. Saul was sure that the best thing to do was to jump on the persecution "bandwagon" if you will but later he experienced God first hand and it all changed, all he needed was a real experience with God himself. From that point on he was a true team player.
Matthew 13:44 says, The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.
Paul found a personal relationship with CHrist and immediately he sold off everything he had. He sold himself out to everything he had believed in before and fought for in his life. He threw away everything in life and wanted nothing but to build on his relationship with CHrist, and tell everyone about it. Everything in life he had worked for lost all meaning when compared with his personal relationship with Christ.
Is your relationship like that? Have you thrown away all the things that you own so that your relationship is all that is meaningful to you. Bandwagon was a term used today to describe someone who jumps ship and changed according to what is popular. But, now we see the "sell out" which is someone who sells out his beliefs and his feelings to go with the popularity. But, Paul sold out for a good thing and in a good way. That is what Matthew 13:44 is talking about, about being a sellout for Christ, thowing away everything and working toward your personal relationship with Christ. So make sure it's all rubbish compared to your relationship with CHrist, keep proper perspective intact and live for Him.
Thanks for reading and have a great day!