Is It Worth It?
Is It Worth It? – All of us make major investments. The greatest investments we make are investments of ourselves. We invest ourselves in two primary ways: through intense interest and through time.
Is It Worth It? – When it comes to the investment of self, we all make basic investment decisions as we live our lives. Some of us make major investments of ourselves in our families. The wife, or the husband, or the children are a major priority in our lives. Nothing is more important than family.
Is It Worth It? – Some of us make major investments of ourselves in our jobs or our careers. Nothing is more important than succeeding in our job or career. We literally define who we are by the level of success we experience in our career.
Some of us make major investments of ourselves in our lifestyles. The house we live in, the car we drive, the circles we move in, the people we know are an extremely important measurement of who we are. If we cannot use these means of defining ourselves, we think we do not amount to much.
Some of us make major investments of ourselves in our pleasures. The form of pleasure differs greatly from person to person. But, having fun, enjoying life is extremely important. Whatever is necessary to reach a pleasurable high is considered reasonable.
No matter how each of us invests life, the moment always comes when we must ask, “Is it worth it?” Because people now live longer than people used to live, more and more people are asking themselves, “Was it worth it?”
Is It Worth It? – A necessary question everyone who seeks to be a Christian must ask: “Is investing my life in Jesus Christ worth the investment?” Is living for God worth it? When my physical life approaches its end, when I look back at my past and I ask that question, what will be my answer?
The Lord Knows What he is doing

* This morning, I would like for us to consider Paul’s answer to that question. [I challenge you to look at Paul’s life and consider his answer.]

* The early part of Paul’s childhood was spent in the Roman province of Cilicia a few hundred miles north of Israel.

* His childhood was spent in the city of Tarsus, which was the principle city of that area (Acts 22:3).
* Tarsus, when Paul lived there, was a very old city–it was an important trade city 2000 years before Paul was born.

* During Paul’s lifetime, Tarsus was the capital city of the province.
* Tarsus held a position that many cities envied and aspired to: it had autonomy as a free city; it could govern itself.

* Tarsus was an important city.

* On an earlier occasion, Anthony met Cleopatra there.
* Caesar Augustus exempted Tarsus from Roman taxes.
* It was a university city whose school devoted itself to the study of liberal arts and philosophy.
* It was a wealthy city that had a reputation for its linen and a special material made from goats’ hair.

* Childhood in Tarsus probably provided Paul an interesting environment for personal development.

* He grew up living in an important place.
* The trade that he learned [a trade he used as a Christian adult to support himself as a missionary when circumstances required self-support] was tent-maker which perhaps meant he knew how to use the special cloth made from goats’ hair.
* Far more important than those two, he was a Roman citizen by birth (Acts 22:25-29).

* That means that at least his father had been awarded citizenship or had been given opportunity to purchase citizenship.
* Roman citizenship was a highly prized possession th...