{"id":162,"date":"2020-04-13T17:11:50","date_gmt":"2020-04-13T21:11:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/dan-knox\/?p=162"},"modified":"2020-04-13T17:11:50","modified_gmt":"2020-04-13T21:11:50","slug":"worth-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/dan-knox\/2020\/04\/13\/worth-it\/","title":{"rendered":"Worth It"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-163 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/dan-knox\/files\/2020\/04\/Filipina-reading-275x300.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"275\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/dan-knox\/files\/2020\/04\/Filipina-reading-275x300.jpeg 275w, https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/dan-knox\/files\/2020\/04\/Filipina-reading-600x655.jpeg 600w, https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/dan-knox\/files\/2020\/04\/Filipina-reading-768x838.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/dan-knox\/files\/2020\/04\/Filipina-reading-1408x1536.jpeg 1408w, https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/dan-knox\/files\/2020\/04\/Filipina-reading-1877x2048.jpeg 1877w, https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/dan-knox\/files\/2020\/04\/Filipina-reading-101x110.jpeg 101w, https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/dan-knox\/files\/2020\/04\/Filipina-reading-229x250.jpeg 229w, https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/dan-knox\/files\/2020\/04\/Filipina-reading-232x253.jpeg 232w, https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/dan-knox\/files\/2020\/04\/Filipina-reading-1920x2095.jpeg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 275px) 100vw, 275px\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Those who shed tears as they plant will shout for joy when they reap the harvest.<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">Psalm 126:5<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019ve been meaning to write on this idea for some time now, and I\u2019m glad I\u2019ve put it off because it\u2019s only matured with age. Over the years, and especially these recent months, I have often been faced with the question \u201cIs it worth it?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Some examples:<\/p>\n<p>Is it worth it to buy a new (different) car?<\/p>\n<p>Is it worth it to move (here, there, or the other place)?<\/p>\n<p>Is it worth it to take a trip to such-and-such a place?<\/p>\n<p>Is it worth it to eat healthy? (I submit that it is)<\/p>\n<p>Is it worth the emotional energy to tell my kid no for the 100<sup>th<\/sup> time?<\/p>\n<p>Is it worth it to change jobs?<\/p>\n<p>Is it worth it to study this book or that?<\/p>\n<p>Anyway, I think you get the picture. Everyday in many ways all of us are faced with these same types of questions. Most of the time they are like the ones above \u2013 important, but not necessarily life altering. But every so often we are faced with the BIG ones:<\/p>\n<p>Is it worth my career?<\/p>\n<p>Is it worth all my life savings?<\/p>\n<p>Is it worth losing friends?<\/p>\n<p>Is it worth committing to for the rest of my life?<\/p>\n<p>Is it worth losing all I own for?<\/p>\n<p>Is it worth not experiencing life with my extended family for the next 20 years?<\/p>\n<p>Is it worth being estranged from all that\u2019s familiar?<\/p>\n<p>Is it worth raising kids that won\u2019t feel truly at home anywhere?<\/p>\n<p>Is it worth dying for?<\/p>\n<p>Is it worth the lives of my family?<\/p>\n<p>We will all eventually be faced with some or most of these, but I have wrestled through all these and more over the last years \u2013 and have been revisiting them over the last months! These are not lite, nor should they be answered flippantly. And the answer to all of these is (obviously) dependent on what \u2018it\u2019 is referring to. If \u2018it\u2019 is referring to something temporal, like let\u2019s say ice cream, I sure hope the answer to all the above is no.<\/p>\n<p>If you\u2019re reading this, you probably already know what the \u2018it\u2019 is that I\u2019m referring to \u2013 going to the ends of the earth with the Good News of Jesus Christ. Intellectually, it\u2019s pretty easy to sit back and think \u201cYeah, of course it\u2019s worth it!\u201d but in practical reality, when rubber meets the road if these questions haven\u2019t truly been weighed and considered it is only natural for us to take the path of least resistance.<\/p>\n<p>In Matthew 28:19 Jesus calls us to go and make disciples of all nations \u2013 have you ever considering what that might cost, and whether or not you believe it would be worth it?<\/p>\n<p>I know my answers \u2013 do you?<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><u>Is It Worth It?<\/u><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">Is it worth the stress and anxiety,<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">to move my family across the sea?<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">Is it worth the heart-ache and pain<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">To say goodbye to loved ones once again?<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">Is it worth the sleepless night<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">To bring enemies to Light?<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">And is it worth it,<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">Having laid aside our comforts and our rights,<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">To instead become aliens, outsiders, home always just out of sight?<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">Is it worth the fear and loss,<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">To count family in the cost?<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">I must conclude:<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">It is worth any price that can be asked,<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">If with His mission we have been tasked.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Those who shed tears as they plant will shout for joy when they reap the harvest. Psalm 126:5 &nbsp; I\u2019ve been meaning to write on this idea for some time now, and I\u2019m glad I\u2019ve put it off because it\u2019s only matured with age. Over the years, and especially these recent months, I have often [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1162,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"full-width-content","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[448],"class_list":{"0":"post-162","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-ministry","7":"tag-ethnos360","8":"entry"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/dan-knox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/dan-knox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/dan-knox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/dan-knox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1162"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/dan-knox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=162"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/dan-knox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/dan-knox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=162"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/dan-knox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=162"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/dan-knox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=162"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}