Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, Saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. And they said, What is that to us? see thou to that. And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself. — Matthew 27:3-5
It was not too long ago that I saw something in a store and I decided later that I wanted it. Everything about it was exactly what I wanted. It was the right color and it fit the need of what I was looking for. I went back to the store sometime later to get it, but it was not there. I had waited too late.
Sometimes in life, we make decisions and choices that leave us finding ourselves having waited too late. From failing to purchase things, or missing out on great opportunities, life often brings us choices and we are faced with the dilemma. Do we make that choice now, or do we wait? Many times, we can make the wrong choice and we face the consequences of that choice.
We see that in the life of Judas. He had a choice of whether he wanted to betray Jesus or to defend him. Judas knew that Jesus was an innocent man, he had spent three years with Jesus throughout his ministry. Yet, he chose to be the one that would betray Jesus for thirty pieces of silver. It seems from the verses that we read here that Judas quickly regretted his decision. He regretted betraying the Savior.
The problem was, Judas waited too late. He had sat through hundreds of Jesus’ teachings. He had heard Jesus share the importance of following and living a Christ-like life. Yet, Judas betrayed Jesus. What did he gain? A simple thirty pieces of silver. Silver that, in the end, was cast down as Judas went out to take his own life.
A lot of people in our society are willing to sacrifice Jesus in their lives for far less than thirty pieces of silver. They sacrifice following Jesus in their lives for their own personal pleasures, social notoriety, and many other things. When they finally decide that they need to focus on following Jesus, it is too late. The majority of their lives may have passed them by with little to show for it.
Is it worth the riches and notoriety of this world to sacrifice our relationship with God in our personal lives? Our prayer today should be that we would put our emphasis on God and the work of God above anything this world has to offer. Or else, we may look back and realize that when we decide to get serious about God, it’s too late.