The Best Choice: Choosing the Lord Over Worldly Desires

Hey, everybody. You're listening to A New Beginning, which is a podcast made possible by Harvest Partners. If this program has impacted you, I'd love to hear from you. So just send an email to me at gregg.harvest.org. Again, it's gregg.harvest.org.

You can learn more about becoming a Harvest Partner by going to harvest.org. That might evoke a strong reaction. You might give up certain pleasures and activities that other people are engaged in and be able to say, man, what a waste. You missed the big party. Or you should have been at this thing once you went to church again. Seriously, what a waste.

Really? Oh, no. If I've given up any pleasure, that's no sacrifice compared to what God has given up for me. Amazing grace, how sweet the sound. Again, you hear all the angels are singing.

This is the day, the day when life begins. Ever been that one person at your table in a restaurant that takes a pass on dessert? Everybody's ordering salted caramel this and double chocolate that, and they look at you like you have a second nose growing out of the side of your head.

What's wrong with you? But sometimes we have to pass up the attractive things for the best things. And today on A New Beginning, Pastor Greg Laurie helps us chart a course for a richer, more fulfilling walk with the Lord in spite of other things that want our attention. It's the day, the day when life begins. Let's grab our Bibles and turn to Mark chapter 14.

The title of my message is The Best Choice. I'm reminded of a statement that Billy Graham made not long before he went to be with the Lord. He was asked a question if he had any regrets in life. And in response, Billy Graham said, quote, I would study more, I would pray more, I would travel less, and I would take less speaking engagements.

I took too many of them in too many places around the world. Billy says, if I had it to do all over again, I'd spend more time in meditation and prayer and just telling the Lord how much I adore him and how much I'm looking forward to the time we're going to spend together in eternity, end quote. Well, Billy is with the Lord now, spending that time with him in eternity. But here before us in Mark chapter 14 is a story of a woman who spent a lot of time telling the Lord how much she loved and adored him. And then she did something that was largely missed by the other disciples. But Jesus singles the story out in the Bible. He wants us to know this story in particular. And I find that fascinating because we read in Mark chapter 14, verse 9, Jesus speaking, he says, assuredly I say, wherever the gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will be told as a memorial to her. Wow. Okay. Well, we better pay attention.

What exactly did this woman do? Before I tell you what that is, let's pick up where we last left off in the gospel of Mark. Jesus is headed to the cross.

He has plainly declared that to his disciples at a place called Caesarea Philippi. He told them he was going to be betrayed. He was going to be crucified. And he would rise again on the third day.

And this came as bad news to his boys because his popularity was at its total peak. The name of Jesus was on everyone's lips. Matthew chapter 12, verse 12 said, large crowds gathered to him and he got into a boat and the whole crowd was standing on the beach. And then Luke 12, one says, thousands of people had gathered together and they were stepping on one another. So everybody wanted to get close to Jesus.

And so he was very popular. But ironically, the same people that were expressing their interest in him would soon turn against him when he made his way to the cross. Even his own hand-picked disciples did not fully understand what he was about to do. He had come to die on the cross.

This was always the plan from the very beginning. And even though he spoke about it in great detail, his disciples missed it with one exception. And it wasn't John known for his spiritual perception.

It wasn't Peter normally known for his outspokenness. It wasn't Andrew. It wasn't Matthew. It wasn't one of the apostles. It wasn't a man. It was a woman. And she was not one of the apostles. But she understood what Jesus had come to do. And her name was Mary.

Let's read about it now. Mark chapter 14, starting in verse 1. Now the Passover and the festival of unleavened bread were only two days away and the chief priests and the teachers of the law were scheming to arrest Jesus secretly and kill him.

But not during the festival, they said, or the people may riot. While he was in Bethany reclining at the table in the home of Simon the leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head. Some of those who were present said, oh, this is worth more than a year's wages. Why this waste of perfume?

This could have been sold and the money could have been given to the poor. And they rebuked her harshly. Now look at the response of Jesus. He said, leave her alone. Why are you bothering her? The poor you always have with you and you can help them any time you want.

But you don't always have me with you. She did what she could. She poured perfume in my body beforehand in preparation for my burial.

And I say to you, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will be told in memory of her. Now this probably was a family heirloom. As it's been pointed out, it was worth a year's wages. So it was worth thousands and thousands of dollars.

Under normal circumstances, just a few drops from a bottle like this would be sufficient. She pours a whole bottle on him and then wipes his feet with her hair. Well Judas did not get it and so he criticized it. Judas is typical of so many people today. Like dutiful Pharisees, they want to give the bare minimum to God. They'll lamely ask questions like, can you do this and still technically go to heaven? Can I get away with this and still call myself a Christian?

Those are the wrong questions. We'll give our leftovers to God if you will. We'll pray briefly if we think of it. We'll read the Bible if we can make time in our busy schedules for it. And then what's even worse is we will criticize others that are more committed to the Lord than we are. Maybe that's one of the reasons why the early church changed their world.

Maybe that's why the early church turned their world upside down. Because they had a sense of abandon. God would tell Philip, go to the desert and he went in obedience to the Lord. God would tell Peter, reach down and take that man by the hand and pull him to his feet and he would do it. They took risks and they left their comfort zone.

Why? Because the scripture says they had been with Jesus. Acts 4 13 says the members of the council were amazed when they saw the boldness of Peter and John because they were ordinary men. They had no special training but they recognized them as men who had been with Jesus. Can someone tell you've been with Jesus? Can they see it reflected in your life? Does the fragrance of your life fill the room as it did with Mary and her gift to the Lord? It's a wonderful thing when people see that and ask us why we are the way that we are and they want to know more about us and then we can share the gospel. Now again I want to emphasize Mary did not have the same privileges as the disciples.

They spent pretty much every waking hour in the presence of Jesus for some three years. She was with him sporadically but she was going to take advantage of this opportunity. She's going to listen to him. She's going to learn from him and she's going to bring a great gift to him. Because she could see the lines etching his face and read or write the problems reflected in his eyes and she understood he had said what he meant and he meant what he said. He was going to die on a cross and that broke her heart so she was going to bring her tribute to Jesus now.

Seize the moment. Carpe diem is the expression. That's exactly what Mary did. Of course Judas thought it was a waste and he criticized her for it but then John gives us an interesting little detail about Judas. He said Judas did not say this because he cared about the poor.

He said this because he was a thief. Basically Judas was hanging onto the money for the disciples and he was pocketing it and so things are not always as they seem. From the outside Judas looked thrifty and careful and spiritual and the woman looked frivolous and wasteful and silly but the very opposite was true. Judas was evil and greedy and wicked and she was thoughtful and godly and committed.

So things are not always as they appear. Pastor Greg Laurie will have the second half of his message in just a moment. In a new book Pastor Greg Laurie recalls his friendship with Dr. Billy Graham. He had this ability to connect from the beginning to the middle to the end of his ministry. I remember seeing him in New York at his final crusade and flushing meadows there and I remember he just looked at the crowd and said, God loves you and then he would turn to another part of the crowd and say God loves you.

I read somewhere that what young people want and need from older people is first they want to be loved and you want to be loved. And the Bible says God loves you. God loves you.

God loves everyone here tonight. He lived what he preached. There weren't two Billy Grahams.

He was the same in private that he was in public. He was the godliest man I've ever met. The new book Billy Graham, The Man I Knew from Pastor Greg Laurie, yours for a gift of any size at Harvest.org. Well we're in Mark 14 today as we consider the surprising moment when Mary anointed Jesus' feet with oil. Here's Pastor Greg to continue. Now Jesus commends her as an example to us.

Look at verse 8. She has done what she could. She has come beforehand to anoint my body for burial. She did what she could because she understood that he would do what he did. In the same way the more we discover about what Jesus has done for us will cause us to want to do more for him. The Bible says we love him because he first loved us. She saw this love that was driving him. She saw this concern for her and the others and all of humanity.

And so she wanted to do something for him to show her love. And I think sometimes we'll look at people who offer something to the Lord and some might criticize them for it. For instance a young person may give up a promising career to go into the ministry. And some people like Judas will say, what a waste. You could have gone out and had a great career and made a lot of money. That's a waste.

It isn't a waste at all. I'm reminded of a young lady I just met. Her name is Tiffany. And she works with the World Health Organization and the United Nations over in Yemen. And they're reaching out to the poor people that are living there. And so Tiffany has been able to show God's love to these people and be a great witness. In fact she watches Harvest at Home.

That's where she gets her teaching being so far away from the United States. And some would say, well that's a waste of a life. That's a waste of a life. As far as I'm concerned that's an investment of a life.

You might give up certain pleasures and activities that other people are engaged in. And be able to say, man what a waste. You missed the big party. Or you should have been at this thing once you went to church again. Seriously, what a waste. Really? Let's just run the clock out and come to the end of our life.

And let's just see how that played out for you and how that played out for me. I just read a very interesting study that was done that showed people who go to church on a regular basis and have faith in God live longer, healthier lives. So there's even a practical aspect to it. Oh no. If I've given up any pleasure that's no sacrifice compared to what God has given up for me. It said that Moses chose to give up the pleasures of Egypt and the pleasures of sin for a season to pursue God's will for his life. And whatever you give up will be more than made up to you as a follower of Jesus Christ. Or maybe you avoid that temptation to go astray. You're faithful to your wife for a lifetime.

People say, oh man come on you missed out. You could have had an affair here and there. Oh yeah, let's just look at the wreckage of divorce and the impact it has on you and on your children and even on your grandchildren.

And we'll see who made the right choice. That's not a waste. Nothing is a waste if it's done for the glory of God. And that's what this woman did.

She gave her very best. It was the very opposite of a waste. Or you may decide to simply live for yourself and do whatever you want to do with your life. And one day God will say, what a waste. What do you care about the most?

The opinion of people or the opinion of God Almighty? Give your most precious thing to the Lord. My son Jonathan was in Peru a while ago with his wife Brittany. We worked on some projects with Compassion International. A great organization impacting people around the world. But especially children helping to lift people out of poverty.

And they share the gospel with these folks. And so Jonathan went to a village in Peru. He took a backpack full of toys and other things. And they were hanging out with this little family. And there's a little boy named Anthony. And Jonathan was playing soccer with the little guy.

And it was just great. And as Jonathan was leaving and getting ready to get into his cab, little Anthony ran to him and hugged him. And then presented Jonathan with a little gift. It was like this little piggy bank of a little dog. And obviously this was a very precious object to this little boy. He had very little. And he gave his very best to Jonathan. And I just thought that's a perfect picture of what we're talking about here. Giving our very best to God.

He deserves nothing less. What is the most precious thing you can give to Jesus? Let me give you an idea of what it might be.

Yes it's your resources. Yes it's your time. But overall it's your life. Present your future to the Lord. I'm speaking to someone right now who's very young. And they're thinking about their future. Can I tell you the best thing you can do with your future is choose to follow Jesus Christ.

That is the best choice. The best choices I made in my life. Number one, I gave my life to Jesus Christ at the age of 17. And number two, I married a young girl named Kathy.

And we've been married now for 47 years. Those are choices I've never regretted. You will never regret choosing to follow Jesus Christ. And here's why choices matter. You make your choices. Then your choices make you.

So make that choice now. And then choose to dedicate your life to the Lord. I pretty much dedicated all of my life to Jesus.

I was around 50 years ago. And I didn't have a lot to offer Christ at the age of 17. I was a confused kid. I'd gotten into drugs.

I'd made some bad decisions. And I said, here I am Jesus. And I actually said to him, God if you're real make yourself real to me. And he did.

And he does. And whatever good has come out of my life and my ministry has been God taking very little and multiplying it. Sort of like that little boy with the loaves and fishes that came to Jesus. And Jesus took that little bit of bread and those fishes and he distributed it.

It was sort of like the guy came with, here's my little crackers and my sardines. Jesus says, I can work with that. And he touched so many lives. And you need to come. I need to come. We all need to come and offer our life to the Lord.

And you will never regret that decision. Because one day will be your last day. A couple of days ago I made a phone call to a man named Jim who's in the hospital. Jim tragically is dying of cancer. But as we talked he told me he came to Christ hearing me preach in 2011. And then he made this statement, Greg I'm not afraid.

I'm ready to see the Lord. And I was so moved by that. And then Jim made this statement to me. He said, the meaning of life is a life with meaning in Christ. I thought, man you are so right.

He had such clarity. Only a Christian can look death in the face and say, I am not afraid. And I reminded Jim of the statement of the apostle Paul when he said, to live is Christ and to die is gain. It doesn't mean that the Christian has a death wish. What it means is we don't have to be afraid to die anymore.

Because Jesus died on the cross for our sin and rose again from the dead. This gives us hope for the afterlife. And I ask you right now, do you have this hope for the afterlife? Could you look death square in the face and like Jim say, I'm not afraid to die?

You can say that if you put your faith in Jesus. But if you haven't, I can't think of anything more terrifying than death. But death is coming to all of us. As it has been said, the statistics on death are quite impressive.

One out of every one person will die. Only those who are prepared to die are really ready to live. Are you prepared to die?

Are you ready to meet the Lord? Listen, if you want to go to heaven. If you want to know that your sin is forgiven.

You can ask Christ to come into your life and everything can change for you. So in a moment, I'm going to pray a prayer. And I'm going to ask any of you that are watching right now who are not sure if Jesus is living in your life. You're not certain that your sin is forgiven. You don't have the confidence that you'll go to heaven when you die. I want you to pray this prayer with me. You can pray it out loud if you like.

You can pray it silently. But you pray this prayer and mean it and God will hear you. So if you want Christ to come into your life, pray this prayer right now.

Just pray these words. Lord Jesus, I know that I'm a sinner. But I know that you're the Savior who died on the cross for my sin and rose again from the dead. I ask you to come into my life right now and forgive me of all of my sin.

I want to see you in heaven one day. Thank you for hearing this prayer and answering this prayer. In Jesus' name I pray.

Amen. An important prayer from Pastor Greg Laurie today on A New Beginning. If you've just prayed with Pastor Greg and have made a decision for the Lord, we want to welcome you into God's family. And you may have some questions as you begin living the life of faith. So we want to send you our New Believers Growth Packet, absolutely free.

It'll help you get started. Just ask for it as you write A New Beginning, Box 4000, Riverside, CA 92514. Or when you call us anytime 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at 1-800-821-3300. That's 1-800-821-3300.

Or just go online to harvest.org. Well, we've been hearing from so many listeners who have been enjoying Pastor Greg's new book called Billy Graham, The Man I Knew. And right now Pastor Greg is revealing some of the surprises found in the book. There's ten things about Billy you've likely never heard before. Give us another one today Pastor Greg. Well this one is kind of a fun one, but I need some psychedelic rock in the background to set the scene. Okay.

Here it is. Billy was a preacher with a genuine appreciation for culture, even psychedelic rock. So here's what happened.

In the late 60's of course the whole rock scene is exploding and all these bands are forming and kids are growing their hair out long. A lot of preachers would say I want nothing to do with that. But Billy embraced it and tried to understand it.

So here's something I actually learned while I was writing this book. He went to a concert featuring the Grateful Dead. Can you imagine Billy Graham at a Dead concert? Now I don't know if he was wearing a tie-dye t-shirt.

But in performing at the concert with Grateful Dead, Ken Heat, Johnny Winner, and Santana. And so he sort of went undercover. Now I don't know that Billy did a great job going undercover. You know I remember I would be with him and he would pull a ball cap over his head as though that would hide his face.

I mean his face looked like it should have been a Mount Rushmore. His profile was so well known and I know when I went out with him and he wore that ball cap people still recognized him. But anyway he went undercover and engaged in conversations with many of the young people were there. And even got up on the stage at this rock concert and preached the gospel and 350 young people came to the Lord. Most people have not heard this story. Here's another story. Billy embraced contemporary Christian music later in his crusades.

I know this because I watched it happen. There were a lot of these great bands that were forming back in those days. DC Talk, Audio Adrenaline, of course Michael W. Smith. And so Billy started having them on his platform on youth night. Not everybody on his team agreed with this.

I remember there was some spirited discussion on the topic. Of course I was in favor of it because it was a way to build a bridge to his audience. And I think at times when there would be some band that would play before Billy and they'd get a lot of applause. But when Billy came on the stage the greatest applause was saved for him. Here's what I loved is Billy just was his authentic self. So Billy wore suits when he preached and he would come out wearing his suit preached as he always preached. But those kids loved him and they hung on his every word.

But this shows me even in his later years Billy was flexible and willing to adapt to the changing culture. You know the apostle Paul said he became all things to all men. And I think one of the problems in the church today is we're answering questions no one is asking.

And we're not answering the questions that are being asked. Billy always had a great interest in knowing what people were dealing with. He wanted to understand the people he was speaking to and he always wanted to build a bridge. Billy Graham was a bridge builder not a bridge burner.

He was a peacemaker not a troublemaker. He always wanted to bring people to Christ. And so this is one of the things I bring out in my new book that I just wrote called Billy Graham the Man I Knew. And I'd love to send you a copy for your gift of any size. And whatever you send to us here at Harvest Ministries we can promise you it will be used to reach more people with the gospel and with the teaching of the word of God. So whatever you can send it's appreciated and we'll send you your copy of Billy Graham the Man I Knew.

Yeah it's a fascinating read, an inspiring read. And you can be one of the first to receive Billy Graham the Man I Knew. We'll send it to say thank you for your investment in the mission of this ministry.

It's an investment in touching lives like this one. This listener wrote, Thank you, Pastor Greg. It's because of you 24 years ago that I gave my life to God. I was higher than a kite up all night and started watching you on TV. And you spoke so frankly to me.

I knew what I had been doing was putting me in a hole. Thank you again. Well you know your support helps us reach people like this. And with your investment let us thank you with Pastor Greg's new book, Billy Graham the Man I Knew. Just write a new beginning, Box 4000, Riverside, CA 92514. Or call 1-800-821-3300. That's a 24-7 phone number, 1-800-821-3300.

Or go online to Harvest.org. Hey everybody, Greg Laurie here. You know my uncle, Fred Jordan, had one of the first Christian TV programs out there. It was called Church in the Home.

I remember watching it as a little boy when I was living with my grandparents. Well we have Church in the Home for you every weekend. It's called Harvest at Home and you can find it at Harvest.org. We have worship and a message from God's word. So join us this weekend for Harvest at Home at Harvest.org. Well next time, good news for anyone who's ever failed, anyone who's ever made a mistake, anyone who's ever sinned. Know anybody like that? Next time, Pastor Greg points out that God gives second chances. Join us here on A New Beginning.