The text below was extracted with the permission of the book Isso Muda Tudo?How the Gospel Transforms the Lives of Boys and Girls, by Jaquelle Crowe of Faithful Editor.
Paul didn’t say anything, not even the most incredible, amazing and precious treasure there is?Have you seen the film The Legend of the Lost Treasure?This is a fiction about a group of American explorers who want to find the world’s greatest measurable treasure: a collection of billions of dollars worth of historical artifacts. Spoiler alert: When they find it, the treasure is even more precious and spectacular than you ever imagined. But Paul says that none of this has value to Jesus.
- Jim Elliot knew that very well.
- Jim was a missionary in Ecuador in the 1950s and was killed by the Huaorani Indians.
- The same people he served.
- Before the 1920s.
- He was a man who worshipped Jesus so much that he was willing to lose everything just to proclaim it.
- Famous phrase that remains the statement of his life: “Isn’t it a fool who gives what he doesn’t remember to win what he can’t lose?”[1].
Jim knew that he could only find satisfaction for his soul by recognizing the absolute value of Jesus; He also knew that his Savior could never be left by chance in a part of his life, divided into compartments such as a math class or a football game. Life. And that meant it was worth dying for.
But it also meant it was worth living. Most of us will probably not be martyred by faith. However, we can take our cross every day and follow Christ. No, actually, we have to. Christians are called to follow Jesus in death, but also in normal daily life.
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[1] Jim Elliot, quoted in ELLIOT, Elizabeth. Cross the portals of splendor. Sao Paulo: Vida Nova, 2013.