THE BEST WAY TO SAVE YOUR LIFE!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

FRIDAY JULY 14, 2023. 

SUBJECT: THE BEST WAY TO SAVE YOUR LIFE! 

Memory verse: "He who finds his life will lose it, and He who loses his life will find it.” (Matthew 10 vs 39.)

READ: Matthew 16 vs 24 - 26:

16:24: Then said Jesus to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.

16:25: For whoever desires to save his life shall lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.

16:26: For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?

INTIMATION:

The best way to save your life is to cling to Jesus instead of the world and its values; pledging our whole existence to His service which is our real purpose of life. Clinging to the worldly values and lifestyle may cause us to forfeit the best from Christ in this world and in the next. Adherence to, and loving this worldly values (leisure, power, popularity, financial security, etc.) at the expense of your commitment to Christ, and what He desires of you is really unsafe. 

The rewards of this worldly values and lifestyle is really empty compared to what Christ offers. The best way to save your life, therefore, is to loosen your greedy grip on earthly rewards so that you can be free to follow Christ. In doing so, we will experience the immeasurable benefits of following Christ and are assured of living in eternity with Him. 

If one desires to live after the world in order to save his life, then he will lose it. If one denies Christ in order to save himself, in the end he will lose his life. The one who gives himself to the Lord will gain eternal life in the end. Those who crucify themselves, and allow Jesus to control their lives, will live eternally with Him.

The value of one’s soul is beyond comparison with anything of this world. If one owned all that is of this world, such would not profit toward the salvation of his soul. If we truly comprehend the value of our eternal salvation, we would not trade anything of this world for it. If we understand the glory that will be revealed to us, we would understand the foolishness of clinging to this world in a manner that would divert us from Jesus. 

When we don’t know Christ, we make choices as though there were no afterlife. In reality, this life is just the introduction to eternity. How we live this brief span determines our eternal state. What we accumulate on earth has no value in gaining eternal life. Even the highest social or civic honors cannot earn you entrance into heaven. Jesus wants us to follow Him rather than to lead a life of sin and self-satisfaction. He wants us to stop trying to control our own destiny and to let Him direct us. This makes good sense because, as the Creator, Christ knows better than we do of what real life is all about. He asks us only to lose our self-centered determination to be in charge, submitting to Him, and this is by no means self-hatred.

Many people spend all their energy seeking pleasure. Jesus said, however, that worldliness, which is centered on possessions, position, or power, is ultimately worthless. Whatever you have on earth is only temporary; it cannot be exchanged for your soul. If you work hard at getting what you want, you might eventually have a pleasurable life, but in the end you will find it hollow, empty, and all is vanity (Ecclesiastes 12 vs 8). Therefore, make the pursuit of God more important than any selfish pursuit. Follow Jesus, and you will know what it means to live abundantly now, and to live in eternity with Him as well.

One must keep in mind that ambitions to acquire worldly treasures do not profit toward the edification and growth of the soul that must be spiritually prepared for eternal dwelling. There is no spiritual profit in spending one’s life in the acquisition of the things of the world, when in the end, the things of this world will be destroyed and one is left with a life that has been wasted on acquiring material things. 

If this present life is most important to you, you will do everything you can to protect it. You will not want to do anything that might endanger your safety, health, or comfort. By contrast, if following Jesus is most important, you may find yourself in unsafe, unhealthy, and uncomfortable places, you may even risk death, but you will not be afraid because you know that Jesus will raise you to eternal life with Him at the last day. Nothing material can compensate for the loss of eternal life with Christ. Do not use your life on earth merely to please yourself, rather you should spend your life serving God and others.

Those who have committed themselves to Jesus will not only receive the abundant life in this life, they will also receive eternal life in the new heavens and earth to come. It is senseless to profit that which is of this life at the expense of that which is beyond this life. It is senseless because no man with the goods of this world can make an exchange for the heaven that is to come. If any would seek first the satisfaction of earthly desires in order not to glorify God in this life, he would perish eternally. If one does not give his life to Jesus, then he will not receive that which will preserve his life into eternity.

Prayer: Abba Father, by You all things consist. My utmost heart desire is to live and move and have my being in Christ. Give me the grace to embrace Christ in all my ways, and empower me to do all things to please Him, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!