Week 3: Dying to Live

This week's Bible reading unfolds like this:

*Sunday: Genesis 31:17-32:12; Matthew 10:24-11:6; Psalm 13:1-6;
Proverbs 3:16-18
*Monday: Genesis 32:13-34:31; Matthew 11:7-30; Psalm 14:1-7;
Proverbs 3:19-20
*Tuesday: Genesis 35:1-36:43; Matthew 12:1-21; Psalm 15:1-5;
Proverbs 3:21-26
*Wednesday: Genesis 37:1-38:30; Matthew 12:22-45; Psalm 16:1-11;
Proverbs 3:27-32
*Thursday: Genesis 39:1-41:16; Matthew 12:46-13:23; Psalm 17:1-15;
Proverbs 3:33-35
*Friday: Genesis 41:17-42:17; Matthew 13:24-46; Psalm 18:1-15;
Proverbs 4:1-6
*Saturday: Genesis 42:18-43:34; Matthew 13:47-14:12; Psalm 18:16-36; Proverbs 4:7-10

Scripture: Matthew 10:38, 39
"If you refuse to take up your cross and follow me, you are not worthy of being mine. If you cling to your life, you will lose it; but if you give up your life for me, you will find it."

Observation:
The way of Jesus Christ is antithetical to the way of the world. The world teaches that it is virtuous to succeed. The world encourages upward mobility. Crosses are for losers! If you give up your life for anything except yourself and your dreams, you are a fool.

Jesus exposes this fatally flawed "wisdom." You will lose your life if you cling to it. You will only find the elusive prize the world longs for by doing exactly the opposite of what the world teaches. We find life by surrendering it to Jesus Christ. Crosses are for Saviors...and for those who wish to be saved.

Application:
When I read this passage, it made me reflect on how I might be clinging to my life...and what I might have to do to surrender my life for Jesus. I’m sure I default to clinginess when I’m not looking. I am deeply grateful for my job, for my colleagues, for my students, for all the exciting opportunities I have to serve Jesus, for my family, for my wife, and for my belongings.

But I cannot be clingy. In fact, Jesus says that I must give up my life. But how? By adopting a "non-clingy" attitude toward everything that is my life? By holding it all with "open hands?" How do I sustain a spirit of relinquishment without becoming indifferent, passionless, and ungrateful? Is Jesus asking me to walk away from everything...to follow him away from my life? He does not say that I have to be willing to give up my life. He says that I must give up my life. It is not enough to say, "I would if I could."

The account of Abraham’s sacrifice of Isaac, which we read last week, comes to mind. Isaac was Abraham’s life. Everything was riding on Isaac. God’s promises...Abraham’s legacy...everything lived or died with Isaac. Abraham died the moment God told him to offer his son. As Abraham made his way toward the place of sacrifice, Isaac was already as good as dead. The writer of Hebrews says that Abraham believed that God would raise Isaac from the dead to fulfill his promises. Abraham never doubted that God would keep his promises. Abraham sacrificed his life to God because he knew that God would give it back to him. Isaac would live.

So it is with us! In a real sense we give up our lives...knowing that by doing so...only by doing so, will we truly live. We give up our lives to God because it is the only way to truly keep our lives. This is the mystery of our salvation: we die to live!

Prayer:
Heavenly Father, we died with Jesus Christ in baptism, and in him we die daily. With the Apostle Paul we declare that it is no longer we who live but Christ who lives in us. And the life that we live, we live by faith in your only Son, who loved us and gave himself for us. All praise, glory, and honor be to you, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, now and forever...amen!

Have a great week!

Faithfully,
Chuck