THE STORY OF JESUS: Matthew 16:24-28
“Whoever loses their life for me will find it.” (25)
Jim Elliot was one of five missionaries killed while serving among the Huaorani people of Ecuador.
His quote seems to echo what Jesus is saying here as well.
Nothing in this life is worth comparing to the full treasure of LIFE God has in mind for us.
We are desperate to hang on to our hollow experience of life, while God offers us LIFE to the full.
But to embrace the treasure of LIFE, we need to let go of the foolish imitations of it.
Look around, how many people are REALLY happy, have real joy and contentment?
For all that we have managed to do and gain in this life, we’re still miserable, empty, lost.
Jesus knows what LIFE is, where LIFE can be found, it is living God’s way in God’s world, with God!
God has freely, graciously restored us to this LIFE, by beating sin, satan, death and hell.
Jesus has given us His Spirit, we now have everything we need to step into LIFE.
But there is a price, it means we must choose God’s way over our own, or the worlds.
Consider the options: short term fleeting happiness, or joy that starts small but keeps on growing!
Elliot (and the others with him) lost their lives, but they gained LIFE.
They were not fools, we are…
What am I foolishly hanging on to, in my attempt to make my SELF happy.
Its not working, is it, so why do I keep hanging on, why do I keep looking there?
The key to LIFE is giving yourself away – to God and to others – this is where joy lies.
But we have to WANT it, to WANT to be Jesus’ disciple, to follow Him.
If I don’t really want it, I won’t really choose it, and I won’t finally find it.
In the end, who really is the fool?
What do you sense the Lord saying to you?
PRAYER
Lord, I think I want to see Your kingdom, the LIFE You died to give to me. But help me to want it more than all the foolish distractions that keep derailing me.