True Esteem

“Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward.” Hebrews 11:25-26

Why would anyone choose affliction and reproach over pleasures and riches?  Why would you choose a life of exile over a life of palaces and parties?  What you choose reflects what you value and many people value what is seen far more than what is unseen.  However, the sanctified esteems Christ above all.  

Moses did not choose a life of pleasure, riches, and fortune; God’s providence placed him there.  He was raised in the palace of Pharaoh and no doubt enjoyed all the conveniences of royalty.  It is one thing to give up on wanting something that you never had, and quite another thing entirely to give up on wanting something that makes you comfortable.  That you enjoy.  The pleasures of sin and the treasures of Egypt were not only what was comfortable to Moses, but also they were comforts of this life.  He left all that.  He went from being served to being a servant, from being full to suffering hunger, from a palace of company to a lonely hilltop.  He choose suffering and the reproach of Christ, because he valued something greater than all the treasures in Egypt.  If there is a price that would make you give up your salvation, the devil will find it and offer to pay it.  If you esteem anything above Jesus Christ, the devil will find that something and offer it to you.  Whether he can deliver it or not.  He wants your destruction and he is always willing to make a deal.  In some areas of the world the affliction and reproach of Christ is in stark contrast to this world.  Christians are arrested, beaten, and martyred.  They are heavily persecuted and openly reproached for loving Jesus.  Against this backdrop, we can see what true esteem over the world looks like.  What it means to choose to suffer with the people of God.  In America, the reproach is sometimes more subtle (but not always).  Regardless, no matter the cost, no matter the offer, the sanctified, sold-out Christian has made their choice.  They are going with the people of God and nothing is worth more to them than the reward of a relationship with Jesus and heaven in the end.

We have been vouchsafed our moments here on this earth.  What we do with those moments, (those micro decisions that set a pattern that will be examined on a macro level) is up to us.  The sinner who enjoys the pleasures of this world for a season, investing their all in this world will reap a sinner’s hell when it comes time to harvest (when they die).  The saint who chooses to follow Christ and invest his/her all in things that are “higher and things that are nobler” will walk up Mount Sinai sit down with God the Father and know Him face to face.  The true esteem is the choice to forsake the world and follow Jesus.  Knowing, that the reward of a “heaven to go to heaven” in is worth it all.  Whatever it takes.  “Take this whole world, but give me Jesus.”