Chapter 8, and today we'll be going through verse 35 to verse 38. From verse 35 to verse 38. And we start reading from verse 35. It says, For whoever would save his life will lose it. But whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? For what can a man give in return for his soul? For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation of him, will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels." Now, some years back, a friend of mine told me a story of his parents when they went as missionaries from Australia to China. And while they were at an underground church and participating with a community of Chinese believers, worshipping God in Sunday morning service, all of a sudden, some Chinese government officials with masks, fully masked. They broke in, they sieged the place, they locked it down and then they had their machine guns fully loaded and they pointed them at the worshippers. And then the story continues on as he told me that one of the officials said to those worshippers, leave now and your life will be spared. Stay to your peril. Now sure enough, some of those worshippers, they fled. And for those who remained, they were so dumbfounded as to what happened next. Because those Chinese officials, laid down their guns, took off their masks, and they said that we are born again Christians. And now we are working with other Chinese officials, and perhaps we pray that God would work through us to reach to them, and we are so eager to worship with genuine Christians, but they just couldn't afford to jeopardise their witnessing role by being exposed to fake or perhaps shallow Christians who would love their lives over Jesus Christ. And from time to time, I think to myself, what would I have done if I was there? What would we have done? If some terrorist broke into this hall and said the same thing to us, would you run away or would you stay to your peril? Would you deny Jesus like Peter did or would you be willing to die for Him? Let me tell you who would deny Him and run away and who would stay. I think those who would compartmentalise their heart, those who would split their heart's affection between Jesus, family, work and hobbies. At that moment of persecution, they will try to wiggle their way out. and they will justify themselves, and they will say, oh, my family needs me. My wife will be a widow, my children will be fatherless. And at that moment, they will explain their actions away. But those who would embrace Jesus as the all-consuming pleasure of their hearts Those who would say with Paul, for to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. Those are the ones, those are the candidates that would stay. Those who would hold on to the vows of their spiritual marriage to Jesus of Nazareth. And what are the vows? to deny yourself, to take up your cross, and to wherever and however Jesus leads you, you follow after Him. If you want to be a follower of Jesus, you must be willing to disown yourself, and you must be willing to give up everything for His sake. These are the minimum requirements. the irreducible terms that anyone who is eager for his sins to be forgiven, that you must sign your name to. It doesn't mean that the moment you become a Christian immediately those vows will manifest themselves in your life, no, but I'll tell you what it means. It means that in order for you to be a Christian, You must not only agree with these mentally, no, but that you would embrace these terms in your heart and that you would be willing to devote the rest of your life to manifest those vows. So, please, don't misunderstand. Jesus here is not preaching perfection, but he's certainly preaching consecration and utter and complete and total dedication to His Lordship. And a Christian is not someone who is without faults. Not at all. But he's a man who has given himself without any reservation to Christ. That you're no longer your own. You're Christ's. And that you must be willing to crucify the flesh and mortify the deeds of the body and to fight daily any passion that challenges your devotion to Jesus Christ. This is Christianity in a nutshell. And when do you sign these terms? obviously when you're born again. Friends, what man out there that would get a house mortgage and it's only after seven years he would sign the contract? What husband out there that would marry his wife and it's only after five years he would say, I do? Probably crazy. And while it may Perhaps take your lifetime to pay off your mortgage or live up to those vows that you said, I do too. But those vows, those terms must be embraced at the point of your commitment. And let me tell you, Jesus didn't put these terms in fine prints. No, they are unmistakably clear. They are as bright as the sun. One thing I really love about Jesus Christ is that He never sugar-coats His messages. He never waters down those terms. He always front-loads His message time and time again. with this absolute clarity that we must abandon all if we were to embrace Him. He says in Luke chapter 14 verse 26, If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, even his own life, he cannot be My disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple." And he was crucified for saying that. What did Jesus mean by saying that? He means that you must be willing to find Jesus to be infinitely pleasurable. so pleasurable that any affection that you would have for any man, any woman, the closest even people to you would look like hatred in comparison to that infinite pleasure that you must find in Jesus Christ. Jonathan Edwards, in his sermon, one of his great sermons, The Justice of God in the Damnation of Sinners, I was listening to it yesterday and he said this, I quote, Our obligation to love, honour and obey any being is in direct proportion to that being's loveliness, honourableness and authority. And since God is of infinite loveliness, infinite honour and infinite authority, then our obligation to Him is infinite. So, brothers, sisters, if we're not willing to embrace this truth, don't we think that it would be the betrayal of the age through this infinite glory of Jesus Christ? And so Jesus would continue in that same passage, and he would say in verse 33, And so again, I would like to quote Jonathan Edwards. He's one of my most favourite theologians of all time. He said this, And I found this in his diary. I have been before God and have given myself and all that I am and have to God so that I am not in any respect my own. I can challenge no right in myself. I can challenge no right In this understanding, this will, these affections that are in me, neither have I any right to this body or any of its members. No right to this tongue. These hands, nor feet, nor right to these senses, these eyes, these ears, this smell or taste, I have given Myself clear away and have not retained anything as My own. I have been to God this morning and told Him that I gave Myself wholly to Him." Wow! Wow! What a sober declaration of the commitment to Jesus Christ that must pierce right through our hearts, brothers, this morning. Now that was last week's message. This week, why should I follow Christ then? I mean, it's hard, is it not? It's too hard. And so, you may say in your mind, as an unbeliever, thanks but no thanks. Why should I deny myself, take up the cross and follow Jesus for such a great sacrifice? Why? So that I'll be satisfied in Him? That's not worth it. The investment is too high and their return is too low. I kind of like my me time, my entertainment. They're doing a great job in satisfying me. All I need is just a $2 worth of a God who would not disrupt my peace and my comfort and perhaps a little bit of money into my account, a wife that would make me happy and children that would obey me. And I'm done. That would put a smile on my face the day I die. And he would say, well, that's my recipe of having a happy life. And Jesus says, no, you're wrong. This is not a recipe of a happy life. This is a recipe for disaster. And Jesus now, in this passage that we're about to read, will find that There is a compelling reason. There are three compelling reasons why we've got to follow Jesus Christ. Why should I follow Jesus Christ? Because the alternative is lethal to your soul. And the first point, you've got to follow Jesus Christ His way, otherwise, you will lose your soul. And so we read verse 35. For whoever would save his life will lose it. But whoever loses his life for my sake in the Gospels will save it. So Jesus here once again is black and white. There's not much color scheme in his menu to choose from, right? So He places every one of us in a fork in the road, and depending on which way we choose, we would either lose our lives or we would save our lives. There is no grey area. Jesus has not left anyone confused. So let's look at it. For whoever, there's no one exempted from this. It's a universal rule. And then he would say, would save his life. Life meaning himself, his soul. So if you want to save your life, if you're going to save your life, what's going to happen? What's going to happen? You will lose it. Meaning, let everyone who is saving, is trying to save his life be certainly confident of this thing that the very soul that you're trying to save, you will lose. It will be destroyed. So what does He mean by saving your life? Well, we just read earlier the call to follow after Christ is to deny yourself and to take up your cross and to follow Him, right? This is what it means to lose your life. There is no other way to lose your life than to do that. Now if that is what it means to lose your life, then what does it mean to save your life? The exact opposite of that. So to save your life would mean to not deny yourself, that is to accept yourself. One who yearns for self-promotion and courts self-centeredness and kisses self-esteem on the lips and hugs self-righteousness, and gives his hand into marriage to self-exaltation, and he thinks he's now having his wedding, and little does he know that it's his own funeral, and he's digging his own grave by his own hands. To save your life would mean not to follow Jesus Christ. It would mean that you would do what you want, when you want it, and however you want it. And then you would look at that, and in that screwed up assessment of it, you would say, wow, this is freedom! I'm saving my life! And Jesus here turns it on its head, and He gives this emphatic and direct opposite outcome and he says to you, you're losing your life, you're not saving your life, you're losing it. You're wasting it away. You're being fooled. This is not going to only cause you to be unsatisfied. No, you will lose the most precious thing to you. You will lose your soul. Because when you reject Jesus Christ and then you try to save your life, you're headed 100 kilometers away from the source of all satisfaction, delight, and salvation. How is it possible then that you're saving your life? And if you're heading away from the fountain of life, what are you heading towards? By anguish of the heart. misery, torment, right? Today the world says, look out for the numero uno, save your life, pamper yourself, live for yourself. And Jesus here is saying, no, this way you will lose your soul. Don't lose your soul. Then he moves on, he says, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospels will save it. But if you lose your life away, if you abandon everything, that's what losing your life means, you abandon everything, right? You've disconnected yourself from everything else. If you abandon everything for Jesus' sake and the gospels, you will save your soul. And many people have given up their lives for good causes, right? But they still lost their souls. So please pay attention to what Jesus is saying here. And let these words of Jesus ring in your ears like a trumpet. He says again, whoever loses his life, not for a good cause, for My sake and the Gospels, We'll save it for my sake not for my sake and my family's sake not my sake and and work sake not my second holiday sake for my sake nothing more nothing less nothing else Jesus sake and The gospel is exclusivity of Jesus Christ Whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel will save it mother Teresa of gave up her life for the poor. And there are those who give up their lives for church building. Others gave up their lives for their families, or to find a cure for cancer, or to get the right girl, or to get the right job. All these are desires that are good. But Jesus cannot be any clearer. You must not abandon your life for a good cause, no. If you ever want to save your life, you must renounce all that you are and all that you have for His sake and the Gospels. Not for the good cause, but for Christ. Now what does it mean for Christ's sake and the Gospels? Well, for Christ's sake, let's start with that one first. What does it mean for Christ's sake? Simply it means, you can look it up in Philippians chapter 3, you can look at it in Matthew 13 verse 45, to lose your life for Christ's sake means that He is the pleasurable treasure of your heart. In Hebrews 11 verse 25, it talks about Moses, and it says about Moses, choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He considered, listen to this, not just only Christ, but he considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt. He abandoned all in order to make your heart available to receive the joy and the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge. That's what it means you lose your life for Jesus' sake. And what does it mean for the gospel? It just simply means the proclamation of this good news. It means that your heart is burning with that commitment for Jesus Christ and it bubbles up all the way and it comes out of your mouth and your hands and it comes out in the way you live out your life. Does that mean you have to resign from your work? Maybe you sell your house, perhaps for some. But that's not what Jesus is saying here. But what it says here, what Jesus is saying here, is that you bring everything, your family, your friends, your work, your career, as subservient to Jesus Christ and the gospel. It means that you'll be sitting with your family and you say to them, son, sweetie, honey, I have abandoned all affections to receive Jesus' affection. And the love that I have for you, it is no longer from me. It is from Christ. And I want to be available for God and His mercy to work through me and to reach right into your own heart. And so to lose your life away for Jesus' sake in the Gospels means that you would lose all earthly affections away for the all-consuming pleasure of Jesus. And the reality of this exchange would be manifested in the way you live out the Gospels, and in the way you love your family. and that you would be speaking of the gospel in your life, and thus you saved your soul. And yet you would replay the gospel over and over again in your bedroom, through the corridor, at your school, in your home, and wherever you go, you lose your life away for Jesus. Now, it does not mean that by doing so, that you are saving your soul by doing all that. No, it's only by the blood of Jesus alone that your sins will be atoned for. But as you bend your will, as you bring yourself under this full surrender to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, you are in effect exercising that faith that appropriates Jesus' forgiveness. that he offers. Why should I follow Christ? Because if not, you will lose your soul. Now why should I be too concerned for losing my soul? What does that mean? What's the big deal? Listen, second point, because no matter the gain, you will come out negative. You will come out in the negative. Let's read verse 36 and 37. What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? For what can a man give in return for his soul? These two rhetorical questions, and they point to the value of the soul. And they both have the same answer. And what's the answer? No. Nothing. What does it profit a man? To gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? Nothing. He will gain nothing. What can a man give in return for his soul? Nothing. He can't. Now these two questions assume one thing by the way. What do they assume? They assume that your soul is precious. It underlines the immense value of your soul. If one of our young youth here gets married. Let's say Tristan gets married and he invites us all to his wedding and we're all happy and we're all together and then the photographer comes and he wants to take a photo of all of us and we all smile and then we develop the portrait and we stick it in the wall here. Guess who would be the first person that you want to look at? Before you check out the bridegroom or the bride, guess whose face your eyes will be scanning to look for. Be honest. Yourself. Right? I mean, we love ourselves. And the questions that Jesus is presenting here, He's basically saying, is it worth it that you would lose your soul, yourself, even if you would gain the whole world? Now please note, the words that Jesus used here, he used the word profit, he used the word gain and forfeit. Now these are words to do with financial transactions. There are profit and loss statements and he's calling us here to do an internal audit. Are we investing our souls or are we wasting our souls? And what Jesus is kind of doing here is like he's pulling out a calculator and he's punching in a few numbers and he says to you, you work it out. You do the maths. Don't be empty headed. Use your brain because it's just a matter of simple logic. Find out if the sum total of the path you choose will put your soul in credit for eternity or Red, negative, hot, consuming debit. And Jesus here wants us to be convinced that losing our lives away for His sake is worth it. Why? Because the alternative is dangerous. Again, we read, for what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? Meaning, let's be rational here. Let's be rational. Suppose that you reject Jesus Christ because you love money or whatever the money brings to you. And Jesus says, yeah, let's take these worldly pleasures that you love to the greatest level that you could ever dream of. Suppose that you did have all the money of the world. And suppose that you owned the best house of the world, and you lived in the best neighborhood in the world, you slept in the best bed with the best wife, and you ate the best food in the world, and you drove the best car in the world. Now suppose even you had the best medicine in the world, and therefore you became the healthiest man in the world, and the most respected man in the world. Suppose you had all that, but you did not lay bare your soul to be protected by the blood of the Lamb, nor have you embraced Jesus to be the lover of your soul. Then what value will it add? Because all you need to do is just add some time to your checks and balances, and then what happens? Even the best wife in the world will begin to lose shape and have wrinkles. And what happens to your health? How long will you be able to withstand cancer and heart attack and then finally death? And if you were the most respected man in the world, let me ask you a question. Who do you know that was the most respected, the most praised man a hundred years ago? Do you even know? Who was the most praised man 40 years ago? Let me tell you, all the most praised men died and they were buried, and all their praises were buried with them, and they are well forgotten. And so us too, if we set our hearts on this world 100 years later from now, We all will die, we will get buried and all our pleasures will die with us and none will remember us. And we would have come out losing both the world that we gained and the very soul that we tried to keep. Friends, holding on to the things of this world is like trying to hold on to water with the grip of your hand. You'll always come out with an empty grip. It's guaranteed. And then what? You lose the world and you starve your soul to death. And then the question would be, was it worth it? Was it worth it? And when all is said and done, and in a dark room behind all closed doors, and when there is no one watching, and you begin to reflect in all the sins and all the guilt that your soul is accumulating, while in the process you're gaining the world. How will eating delicious food profit you? And when you stand before Almighty God, empty-handed, on that violent day of destruction, and you're carrying nothing but your unforgiven sin, how would pursuing your earthly pleasures help you? And furthermore, when you think about how long eternity is to gain a world, yet you lose your soul, it would be like you're dedicating all your life focusing on one speck of sand, and you're ignoring the trillions upon the trillions of sand and every particle of dust out there in the world. Listen, the possession of all the treasures that the world contains cannot ever compensate the eternal ruin of the soul. And what Jesus is saying here in these two verses is that this is not a prophet. Friend, this is a foolish transaction. This is the worst bargain you could ever grab. This is the worst deal in the whole entire world. And let me tell you, chasing after the passing pleasures of this world is like a dog trying to chase its tail. It will only exhaust your soul. It will tire your soul. And yet, the pleasures of this world will never satisfy your soul. You can bank on that. And in verse 37 it says, for what can a man give in return for his soul? Once you lose your soul for eternity, the deal is done. There is no refund in this transaction, my friend. No exchange. The loss is irrevocable. If you have not resolved to devote your life completely to Christ, rather giving yourself away to the pleasures and the ease of this world, no matter how many times you come to church, or even read the Bible? Not only have you gained nothing and lost everything, but once your time is up, and you launch into this non-ending eternity, there is no second chance. no turning back. May we all tremble before this truth. This is a warning from Jesus Christ himself, and it's meant to terrify us if we choose to refuse seeking after Christ with all of our heart. But yet, The third and the final reason is far more compelling as to why we must follow after Jesus Christ, even if it means that we lose all our lives, even if it means that we lose our family. What's the third reason that Jesus gives us here? It's the ultimate destruction of the soul. And now we read verse 38. for whoever is ashamed of me and of my words." That is to say, whoever doesn't lose his life for my sake and the gospel's. Listen, you either lose your life for Jesus or you're automatically ashamed of Jesus. There is no middle ground. There is nothing in between. You lose your life for Jesus and for Jesus alone and no one else but Jesus Or you're automatically condemned as that you are ashamed of Jesus. Now what does it mean to be ashamed of Jesus? It is to be disgraced of Jesus. You're not boasting in Jesus. And if you're not boasting in Jesus, then what are you boasting on? And he continues on, he says, in this adulterous and sinful generation, You have to be different from this world. You have to even be very different from your atheist, good and self-righteous neighbour. If we don't lose our lives for Jesus' sake, what will the outcome be? Let's read. Of Him, will the Son of Man also be ashamed? I'll say this and my heart is full of tears for those of us among us who are either false converts and have not come all the way to Jesus Christ or those who are just outright unbelievers. Jesus is saying here, if you deny Him, He will deny you. If you do not take up your cross and follow after Jesus, then Jesus will be ashamed, offended by you. He will reject you. Then he continues on, he says, when he comes in the glory of his Father with his holy angels. Now you might say in your mind, well that's okay by me, I've been rejected by many people. There are many that were ashamed by me. I'm okay to add Jesus to this list. Friend, you have no idea. There is one thing when someone A finite being is ashamed of you and there is another when the almighty powerful Jehovah says, I will be ashamed of you when I come in my glorious appearance in this mighty parade with my holy angels. What does it mean when Jesus says, I will be ashamed of you? What does it mean? What did Jesus mean by saying that? Let us be biblically correct. Well what would it look like in His second coming as per the scripture? Well in Matthew chapter 25 it says that all the angels that will come with Him meaning not even one single angel will be left in heaven. We are talking about myriads upon myriads and thousands upon thousands of angels that will be marching forward as the marching beat of a ferocious and mighty army. And Jesus himself will be the centerpiece of this parade. And Revelation chapter 9 tells us that He will be coming with the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. And He will be riding a white horse with a sword in His hand, and He is coming to judge and to slaughter. slaughter who? All those who refuse to lose their lives for His sake in the Gospels. And His rope will be dipped in their blood, and with a rod of iron, Psalm 2 tells us, will break them and smash them like one smashes and shatters glass. In 2 Thessalonians 1.7 It tells us about Jesus' coming when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God, meaning those who do not lose their lives for Jesus' sake, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will suffer. The punishment of eternal destruction away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His might. So terrifying is His coming that it says in Revelation 6 that those who refuse to surrender to Him, they will hide themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains. and calling to the mountains and rocks, fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who is seated on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb. And it continues on in verse 17 and it says, for the great day of the wrath has come and who can stand? This is what it means when Jesus said, I will be ashamed of those who refuse to lose the lace for His sake. Why should I deny myself, take up my cross and follow Christ? Why should you do that? Because the alternative is of an unspeakable eternal horror. So as we come to the end of this message, Friends, brothers, sisters, if it is Christ that created you, and if He created you for Himself and His glory alone, and when we rebelled and sinned against Him, God did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all, Why should we find it illogical to conceive the idea that God demands our total and absolute allegiance to Himself? Listen, God has given all of His Son for you and He expects nothing less than all of your life to Him. Please don't buy into these worldly pleasures. Sell it all and follow Christ. sell it all. Again, does it mean literally to sell it all? No. Well, perhaps for some, you might have to sell it all, for sure. But what Jesus is saying here, and what God is calling us, is to do an internal heart exchange of all pleasures for that one pleasure. And this great God, The King demands absolute and exclusive ownership of all of you and all who you are and all that you have, and if not, you will meet Him in Judgment Day. And so I beg you, on behalf of Christ, I plead with you with the very conviction of this Word of God that we heard this morning. Make peace with this King. Make peace with this great God who you profoundly ashamed, whose anger is justly kindled upon you if you have not yet believed. You know you cannot trick God. You cannot manipulate Him. You cannot wiggle your way out of His strong hand. Friend, be reasonable. You know that you cannot defend yourself against the strength of this mighty God if He comes against you with His mighty strength and anger. And yet, fearful king sends you terms of peace today, and out of his sheer love for you, he wants to settle this matter out of war. So I beg you, let go of your worldly pursuit. Flee from your certain destruction. How? Confess your sin. Turn away from your rebellion. Turn away from even your good works, which will mean nothing for righteousness before a holy God that demands perfection. Trust in Jesus Christ alone, that He would save you. Now is the acceptable time. Behold, today is the day of your salvation. Why? Would you hold back from putting your trust in Jesus? You come to Him, He will receive you. Listen, it's only a matter of time and we will be asked to hand over our credit cards, entertainment, our children and wives and everything we're held dear to. And you will lose everything anyway. Well, you better give them up now so you could save your soul. Listen, it's impossible to find inner rest when you're away from God. And even if you gain the whole world, it won't satisfy you. It won't. All the world is vanity of vanity and grasping of the wind. If anyone wants to seek to find inner rest, come to Christ. No matter how long you live on earth, you know that tomorrow you must die. So I beg of you, don't let this opportunity slip through your hand. Don't. Listen to the words of Christ and His passage and come to Him so you can find rest for your soul. If I could sum up the whole passage, I would sum it up in this and we'll finish here. You only have two hands. You will either grip Christ with both, with all the suffering it will bring, or you will grab the passing shadow of this world's pleasures, and you will lose your soul. Brothers and sisters, I want to give you a quote. I promise you I'll finish after I give you this quote. This quote is by a missionary who was martyred, and just a minute before he was martyred, he wrote this. He gave up his life away. Died by the hands of the people that he reached out to, and that village is called Ucas. And he said this, If God would grant us the vision, the word sacrifice would disappear from our lips and thoughts. He wrote this just before he died for Jesus' sake. We would hate the things that seem now so dear to us. Our lives would suddenly be too short. We would despise time-robbing distractions and charge the enemy with all our energies in the name of Christ. May God help us to judge ourselves by the eternities that separate the Uyghurs, that's the village that are about to kill him, from the comprehension of celebrating Christ. Who, though He was rich, Yet for our sakes became poor so that we might through his poverty be made rich. Lord God, speak to my own heart and give me to know your holy will and the joy of walking in it. Amen." And then he died, for Jesus' sake. May God grant us this vision. May God grant us to see the eternal, infinite beauty of Christ that would cause us to jump out of our seats and walk as Christ walked and live as Christ lived. May we be totally sold out for Christ and not to live a compromised life. May we be eager for our children, our wives and husbands to know Christ and to love Christ. And may we be used as a tool in the hands of God to bring our family to the kingdom of God. And then we move out, and our friends, and our neighbors, and everybody else. And now we will live entirely for the gospel. And when we have a break, we have a break so that we can go back into the battlefield, whether at work or at home. We live for Christ and Christ alone until He comes back. Let's pray. Lord God, we thank You so much, Lord, for Your Word. Oh, how beautiful it is, Lord. It is not a horrible thing to lose our lives for Your sake. Better to be a beggar in the street and have Your Son, Christ, in our hearts, Lord. than to gain the world and reject you. Better to be in a prison cell with Paul and rejoice in having you in our lives than to be out in the world, Lord, and live with the misery of not knowing you. Better to be with Daniel in a lion's den or in a fiery furnace or in the bottom of that well with Joseph and have you in our lives than to walk in this life dead zombies and have all the pleasures of our flesh met. May we never live that compromised life, God. Work in our hearts. Bring us to this wonderful reality that you truly can satisfy us. May anything that we do would spring out of that satisfaction in you, Lord God. In Jesus' name, Amen.