The Gospel costs nothing. You cant earn it or buy it. It can only be received as a free gift compliments of Gods grace. It doesnt cost anything, but it demands everything. It demands that we go all in, a term that simply means placing all that you have into Gods hands. Pushing it all in. And thats where we get stuckspiritual no man's land. Were afraid that if we go all in that we might miss out on what this life has to offer. Its not true. The only thing youll miss out on is everything God has to offer. And the good news is this: if you don't hold out on God, God won't hold out on you. Readers will find Battersons writing filled with his customary vivid, contemporary illustrations as well as biblical characters like Shamgar and Elisha and Jonathan and . . . Judas.
No one has ever sacrificed anything for God. If you always get back more than you gave up, have you sacrificed anything at all? The eternal reward always outweighs the temporal sacrifice. At the end of the day, our greatest regret will be whatever we didnt give back to God. What we didnt push back across the table to Him. Eternity will reveal that holding out is losing out.
The message of All In is simple: if Jesus is not Lord of all then Jesus is not Lord at all. Its all or nothing. Its now or never. Kneeling at the foot of cross of Christ and surrendering to His Lordship is a radical act of dethroning yourself and enthroning Christ as King. Its also an act of disowning yourself. Nothing belongs to you. Not even you.
Batterson writes, for many years, I thought I was following Jesus. I wasnt. I had invited Jesus to follow me. I call it inverted Christianity. And its a subtle form of selfishness that masquerades as spirituality. Thats when I sold out and bought in. When did we start believing that the gospel is an insurance plan? Its a daring plan. Jesus did not die just to keep us safe. He died to make us dangerous.
