And Jesus said to him, “Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”

—Luke 9:60

I received an email from Mercy Ships asking if I could head out to the ship two weeks earlier than my scheduled start date. It wasn’t a small request; I already booked my flights, I had travel plans with my family before leaving, and I still need to pack my apartment and move out. On the other hand, I would already be done with work, and money is just a material thing that will fade when we move to eternity.

It was a difficult decision to consider. I prayed a lot about what the sacrifice would mean, and what could be gained: sacrifice of time, of money, of freedom to do what I want in exchange for difficult missions work away from home in a foreign place.

I won’t be directly evangelizing myself, but I know that the work that Mercy Ships does spreads the Gospel. Jesus said in Luke 15:7, “I tell you that in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.” What does a soul cost? More than we can pay, but there is so much more rejoicing over the salvation of one person.

What would you give if it meant someone would be saved from eternal separation from God? I had a coworker tell me they didn’t understand why I would give up my job and even spend money to go work in a foreign place. It doesn’t make worldly sense, but Jesus tells us we are not of this world. So I decided I would do what I could to help out and go early if I could help. If the need was there, I would pay more in fees to live on the ship, I would give up an opportunity to travel with family, I would pay to change my flight, I would arrange to move out earlier. It was all possible. While I didn’t want to, I was joyfully willing to give up these things for the Kingdom of God.

I never understood the idea of “putting something on the altar” until now. We read about it all the time, but the concept of it never really made a lot of sense. If asked, would you give up something you hold in high value? God gives us so many blessings and gifts. But these are not things that are ours; they belong to God. So if God wants them back, we ought to give them up with a joyful heart. Otherwise those things turn into god things that get in the way of us and our relationship with our Lord.

In the end, things seemed to work out. After some conversation with the liaison, things settled well and I actually don’t need to change anything at all. While it seems like nothing has changed, I think I’ve learned and grown just a bit in the whole process.