FAITH FACTOR by Keith Giles

THE FAITH FACTOR by Keith Giles

Not that I watch a lot of television, but I have found myself sitting in morbid fascination at what a person is willing to do for $50,000.

Apparently, there is an endless supply of young American men and women who will force themselves to leap off of buildings, eat horse eyeballs and swim in large vats of live snakes, all for a chance to win $50,000.

We've all asked ourselves that question, haven't we? "What would I do for this sum of money?" Granted, most of us are simply theorizing what our limits would be if we were ever asked to perform some outlandish stunt for a certain amount of cold, hard cash.

Sometimes we wonder about these things because we secretly hope that someone really will come along and offer us that much money, for any reason, because we honestly do need or want that money. Other times, we simply talk about these things as a reason to make conversation with our friends at a dinner party.

My question is, "What would you do for The Kingdom of God"?

I mean, if people are willing to swallow live worms and degrade themselves on national television for only a year's wages, what would the people of God do for the Eternal, Everlasting, Kingdom of The Living God?

Jesus told a Parable of "The Pearl Of Great Price" to illustrate what those who really see the Kingdom of God are willing to do in order to obtain it.

Sell everything. Give to the poor. Forgive those who persecute you. Turn the other cheek. Love your enemies.

In comparison, the demands that Jesus place on His disciples really seem like so very little, and the payoff seems so much greater as well.

Lately I've been wondering about this parallel of the Kingdom and the World. I wonder, what is it that I would do in order to receive the Kingdom of God?

If I would be willing to give up my dignity for a small amount of money, would I also be willing to gain the Kingdom of God for a small amount of genuine humility?

"The Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field., which a man found and hid; and from joy over it he goes and sells all that he has, and buys that field."- Matthew 13:44

"What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and yet loses his soul?"- Matthew 16:26