THIRTY Pieces of Silver

UV 3692/10000 Thirty Pieces of Silver And said, “What are you willing to give me If I hand over Jesus over to you? And they weighed out thirty pieces of silver. Matthew 26 v 15 We often recall that Peter denied knowing Jesus, Judas betrayed Him for thirty silver coins, all the other disciples deserted Him. But do we recognize that almost on a daily basis, each of us deny Jesus Lordship over our lives, we betray Him deliberately valuing silver coins over Him, desert Him and try to run away. Anything we value over Jesus amounts to selling Him for some gain in this world. Do we value our lives, our jobs, our families, our possessions, our ambitions, our friends, our children, our money over Jesus? It was not as if Judas hated Jesus to think of betraying Him. He valued money over His relationship with God, with Jesus. Even big time preachers I have come across in my journey are guilty of doing this. We should not be willing to give up our faith in Jesus, our relationship with God for anything in this world or beyond. No affection for anyone or anything should rival or come close to our love for the Lord. Everything we do, we do for Jesus. Everything we do in the name of Jesus, to glorify Him, to thank Him for His great act of love that He was pierced for our transgressions, that the weight of the penalty of our collective and individual or personal sins fall on Him. Even a momentary distraction taking away our attention from Jesus is a desertion. A single day without speaking to Him, without listening to His word is a day wasted. A single moment spent at His feet is worth months in our calendar. A single wayward action or word is an act of denial on par with that of Peter. If we are too engrossed in our own pursuits, we are deserting Him. For He is the True Vine and we are grafted onto Him, to live forever in union, in relationship with the Father through His Son. Any thought, word or action or reaction that is not worthy of a follower of Jesus is an act of betrayal, of denial, of desertion. Instead, we are to bear fruit that is in keeping with so great a salvation He assures us of by His death and resurrection.