O = There seems to be a tendency to try to save our own lives—a survival instinct, twisted by the fall, that has us confused like someone caught in an avalanche. We don’t know which way is up; which way leads to life. When I try to take charge of my own survival, clinging to my own way of life, I actually distance myself from the Savior and the eternal life he offers. Physical life is not the whole picture and my fixation upon it is foolish. It is like my trying to save the wrapper of a drinking straw intact and as a result not ever using the straw to drink of the living water that is available to us in Christ. It ends up being a terrible loss rather than a terrific gain.
A = Why do I fear to follow Christ? Why is it so hard to give our lives away in selfless service? I can’t save my life up only for me! In some ways life is like manna. If I try to save it up, because I don’t trust God will provide for tomorrow, it ends up rotten, wormy, and maggot infested—just like my heart when I live for myself. Being a Christian involves a degree of discipleship that requires me to unashamedly trust Christ with my life. Until I see the future in Christ as secure I won’t live my life today with wholehearted abandon for Christ and those he gives me to serve. Today I must say no to myself, and to my own way of structuring my identity in Christ, and allow Jesus to do that for me.
P = O Lord, I trust you for my life—my eternal life as well as my life here and now. There is no other name under heaven by which I can be saved—especially my own! Let your love compel me and empower me to persevere in following you rather than following the crowd or following myself. Change my desires that I might passionately spend myself for you and for others rather than wasting myself on me. Amen.
This week we stepped away from the main passage in Luke 9 for a Mothers' Day message from Proverbs 31, yet Pastor Randy touched on these verses. We will return to the larger context of Luke 9 this coming Sunday.
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