In view of the present increase in the cost of petrol, eggs, conservancy fees and ERP charges, many people are now very much concerned about prices. While this is a legitimate concern, there is a price to pay which we should all be more concerned about: The price to pay if one does not believe in Jesus Christ. There are three questions that every person should consider carefully in this life:

1. Is it worthwhile not to believe in Jesus in order to gain the praise of men, but lose the praise of God? At the time that Jesus was on earth, there were some who apparently thought that it was worthwhile to do this. John 12:37 – "But though He had done so many miracles before them, yet they believed not on Him."

Here John the apostle expressed his dismay and regret that despite the many powerful miracles Jesus had performed, there were people who still refused to believe in Him. By this time Jesus had turned water into wine at Cana, healed a nobleman’s son without even having to visit him, made a man who was paralysed for 38 years walk again, fed 5,000 people with only 5 loaves of bread and 2 fishes, opened the eyes of a man who was born blind, and raised up Lazarus who had been dead for four days. And besides these miracles that were recorded in John’s Gospel, there were also many other recorded miracles that Christ performed.

One would think that all of these together should provide such overwhelming evidence that none would hesitate to believe in Him. But unfortunately man’s heart is so sinful that despite such a strong case for Christ, people still reject Him. And the more that they reject Christ, the more difficult it becomes for them to be converted later on.

After one has initially refused to believe in Jesus Christ, his heart somehow becomes more hardened to the gospel. This truth is reinforced by John’s quotation from the book of Isaiah – "Therefore they could not believe, because that Esaias said again, He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart; that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them." (John 12:39,40)

This truth has very serious implications for all of us today. It means that the heart attitude of unbelief is extremely dangerous to one’s soul. When unbelief is allowed to take hold, it tends to grow and increase so that the heart eventually becomes impenetrable to the gospel of Christ. Dear Reader, if you have not believed in Christ yet, please do not harden your heart against Him, for if you do that, the door of your heart may one day become totally sealed off to Him! Be receptive to the truth. Be willing to listen and carefully consider the wonderful offer of salvation from Jesus, and the evidences of His many miracles which support His claims. Be willing to be led to a response of surrendering your heart to Him.

The message of salvation through Christ is like fire. Fire has different effects on different objects depending on what the objects are made of. If the object happens to be a newly-moulded clay pot, fire will harden it until it becomes so hard and brittle and it breaks to pieces when it falls. But if the object happens to be a candle, fire will melt the wax, causing it to yield itself to the flame and make it burn much brighter. Dear Reader, does the Gospel melt your heart or harden it? Be careful not to have a heart that is conditioned against the wonderful salvation that Christ offers.

You may ask: "What can possibly condition my heart against being saved?" The answer is found in John 12:43 – "For they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God." These people were the chief rulers. They believed on Jesus, but their faith was not saving faith, because they did not want to confess their faith in Him, out of fear of being ostracized by men (v.42). Faith that does not produce a willingness to confess Christ publicly is not yet saving faith (Romans 10:10 – "For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.")

There are many people living today who have conditioned their hearts against believing in and confessing Christ, because they are afraid of what others will think of them. Some are afraid of being ridiculed or rejected. Others are afraid of losing the respect, friendship and love of their closest peers. Are you afraid that if you believe in Christ and your family came to know about it, there will be plenty of heartbreak and strife in the family? Are you afraid that this will bring an end to family unity and peace in your home? "Why change things? Why rock the boat? It is not convenient."

Whatever the cause of the fear may be, one thing must be made very clear: If a person allows it to prevent him from receiving Christ, he is being more afraid of men than of God. He wants to please men, and not God. I hope that you can see how foolish this is. What should be more valuable to you – to be approved by God or to be approved by men? Isn’t what God thinks of you far more important that what people think of you? What people think of you will only be good for your lifetime in this world. After that, it will be completely forgotten. But the thoughts God thinks about you will last for all eternity, and will never be forgotten!

2. Is it worthwhile not to believe in Jesus to gain worldly wealth, but lose eternal blessings? Another thing that may condition your heart against receiving Christ is the prospect of gaining material things in this world. Some will say to themselves: "Why should I live for things in heaven, or for spiritual things which I cannot see at all? There are so many things in this world for me to gain and to enjoy in this present life. I want satisfaction, and I want it now."

Of the twelve disciples that Jesus had, one of them had such thoughts – Judas Iscariot. According to the gospel accounts of Matthew, Mark and Luke, it was at this particular period of time in the life of Jesus that Judas went to the chief priests to make a deal with them to betray Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. "Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went unto the chief priests, And said unto them, What will ye give me, and I will deliver Him unto you? And they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver. And from that time he sought opportunity to betray Him." (Matthew 12:14-16)

Why did Judas ‘sell’ his master to the chief priests? Was it not because of his greed? Was it not the prospect of making money for himself? Earlier glimpses of Judas show that he was put in charge of finance (John 12:6). He was the treasurer of the twelve disciples who discovered later on that he had stolen funds from the funds under his care. Apparently, he was able to cover up his deeds so well that no one suspected him of theft. After he betrayed Jesus with a kiss, Judas felt so guilty about what he had done that he eventually killed himself. What was the root cause of all this? It was his love for money. "For the love of money is the root of all evil." (1 Timothy 6:10)

Dear Reader, do you know that anyone who because of worldly wealth refuses to turn to Jesus Christ now is like Judas? If your pursuit of wealth is the main stumbling block that prevents you from believing in Christ, then you are doing what Judas did, in valuing the 30 pieces of silver more than his loyalty to Christ!

If you adopt the short-sighted policy of living for what you can gain out of this world, instead of living for blessings in eternity, you will one day end up the same way that Judas Iscariot did. Jesus said, "What is a man profited if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?" (Matthew 16:26)

3. Is it worthwhile not to believe in Jesus, to lose all obligation to God’s Word, but gain eternal judgment? One more thing that may condition a person’s heart against receiving Christ is the desire to live one’s life without being bound by anything at all, and especially without being bound by the Word of God. This desire is the outcome of the independent spirit of our present age: "I want to live my life in my own way. I want to be my own master. I want to be free to do whatever I want with my life, without any interference from outside. So don’t come and preach to me and tell me what I should do or what I should not do with my life. Just leave me alone."

Those who say this may not realise that no one is completely free to do whatever he wants with his life, because he is already bound by the sinful nature within him. He cannot be his own master, because sin is already his real master. The freedom that he claims to have is only a freedom to walk in darkness and to abide in darkness!

There is only one way to have real freedom. True and real freedom of the soul comes from believing in Christ. Jesus said, "I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on Me should not abide in darkness." (John 12:46) Only by believing in Jesus Christ can you be liberated from the darkness of sin, and have true freedom. Those who refuse to listen, or to have anything to do with the Word of God, are only denying themselves this one and only means of being released from the control that sin has on their lives!

The saddest part of it all is that they will eventually have to listen to the Word of God on the Day of Judgment. On that day, the Word of God will have no more good news for them, but only the bad news of suffering the consequences of rejecting Christ and His Word. "And if any man hear My words, and believe not, I judge him not: for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world. He that rejecteth Me, and receiveth not My words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day." (John 12:47,48)

When a sinner stands before God at the Last Day, he can only say to himself. "If only I knew and believed a long time ago that one day I would be standing here before God and experiencing His awful judgment, I would have listened to God’s word, I would not have rejected Christ. How could I have been so deluded, so foolish not to receive Christ and be saved when I had the opportunity to do so? How blind I was to the things that are of real eternal value. All the wealth and fame and power that I was proud of and cherished - Where are they now? All are gone forever! There is nothing I can do now. There is no one who can help me. The only one with power to help me is God. But since He is now against me, there is no one else I can turn to for help. What a price to pay for my foolish unbelief!"

Dear Reader, since you know what awaits you now, isn’t it time that you believe in Jesus Christ? Please think seriously about these three questions: Is it really worthwhile to gain the praise of men, but lose the praise of God? Is it really worthwhile to gain worldly wealth for a short time, but lose eternal blessings? And is it really worthwhile to be free from all obligations to God’s Word but to face eternal judgment by that same Word on the Last Day?