Topic of the Month

What would you do with a Billion Dollars?

Bro. Brian Tipton
Quartz Hill church of Christ

For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous. (I John 5:3)

I have often wondered what it would be like to be a very wealthy man.   When you stop to think about it, it is hard to even imagine how to obtain millions of dollars, let alone, billions of dollars, without someone giving it to you.  So, for the sake of argument, let's suppose that someone did give you a billion dollars, if you agree to a few stipulations.  The man giving you the billion dollars states that he expects you to come to his house and thank him for the gift.  You are to do this as often as you can, but especially on a certain day of the week, when you will share a great feast with him.  He states, "If you do this, the money is yours to keep.  Fail me, and I will demand the entire amount back from you." 

If you are like me, I would most likely have already signed on the dotted line, agreeing to the man's stipulations.  After all, he has just given me a billion dollars (that's a 1 with 9 zeros after it, all before the decimal point.), and what he has asked me to do is not grievous.  Besides, the small amount of my time that he requires is insignificant to the great gift he has given me.  I wouldn't want to loose my new found fortune because I failed to follow his instructions.

Unfortunately, we as Christians often forget that God has given us something that is worth far more than a billion dollars.  What he has given us is worth far more than anything that this world has to offer.  God, through the death, burial, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ, has brought salvation to mankind and with it the hope of eternal life.  In Romans 6:23, Paul states that ". . . the wages of sin [is] death; but the gift of God [is] eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."  This value of the gift of eternal life cannot be measured on earthly scales.  Jesus Christ said of it, "For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?" (Mark 8:26)   Our soul's salvation is worth far more than the entire world!

Yet, many Christians feel that they do not have to attend services regularly.  If we look to the Bible, we will find that there was a primary reason for attending services.   In Acts 20:7, we read that ". . .upon the first [day] of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight."  In this example we see the early church meeting together on the Lord's Day, the first day of the week, and breaking bread.  This breaking of bread is the Lord's Supper.  In Acts 2:42 we read that the early church met continually in fellowship and the breaking of bread.  And finally, in I Corinthians 11:23-26 Paul writes,

(23) For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the [same] night in which he was betrayed took bread: (24) And when he had given thanks, he brake [it], and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me.(25) After the same manner also [he took] the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink [it], in remembrance of me.(26) For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come.

We see here that Christ himself commands us to do this to remember him and the great sacrifice he made for us.  If we love Christ, we will keep his commandments (John 14:15).  We as Christians, must, therefore, attend services faithfully and remember Him weekly, by partaking of the Lord's Supper.

(24) And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: (25) Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some [is]; but exhorting [one another]: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching. (Hebrews 10:24,25)

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