turning duty into delight

 

"Make no mistake—to follow Jesus means that you relinquish your right to everything else in the world. You literally must renounce it all (Luke 14:33). That means nothing can be off-limits to Jesus. You cannot put limits on where you will live or what you will do. Your “contract” with Him can have no stipulations; it is absolute, unconditional surrender. You must be willing to depart from family, friends, comforts, riches, and even your own life. You must be willing to then pick up His rough, painful, wooden cross and follow Him. You must live for others as He has lived for you. But if you perceive the value of Jesus, none of this will seem like sacrifice. The cross is painful and the costs of discipleship are severe, but the joy of what you have obtained in Him so far outweighs any sorrow for what you have abandoned... Jesus is the treasure worth leaving everything for. Knowing Him will turn sacrifice into sweetness and duty into delight. Even when your commitment to Him leads you to a cross, He will be a treasure that shrouds that cross in joy."

J.D. Greear, Gospel: Recovering the Power that Made Christianity Revolutionary