powerful instruction.
going to church every Sunday for years gives you a perspective of God and the Bible. reading the Bible intentionally gives you a much different perspective. this has been my experience anyhow.
whenever i make reading the word a priority and really focus on what the words are saying i am, on every occasion, deeply impacted. i commonly think to myself, “wait what” or “this is insane”, not in a negative connotation but in a way where i am simply speechless by the depth and power.
my most recent “whoah” moment comes from Matthew. the Lord was addressing his 12 disciples on their instructions for how to conduct themselves in the world. one instruction stuck out the most.
“Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.”
read this a few times. let it sink in. finding your life means you will lose it. what does this even mean. and if we lose our life for the Lord that means we will find it. what exactly will we find?
as the years have passed i have “found” my life and purpose many times. well i thought i did. if you are like me and have “found” your life a few different times this likely means you have faced some failures, heartbreaks, traumas, and false hopes. all things come to an end. sometimes they last for a really long time, sometimes they are fleeting, but they always end…even if they last until death.
falling in love, making your career your identity, facing addiction, or any other way we “find ourselves” is a lie. God makes it clear in this verse that the only way to really find your life, your purpose, your true identity is to lose it for God, any only God.
i wonder why he uses the different words with finding and with losing. when you find your life you lose it but when you lose your life for God you find it. i think the point is simple. finding is an action that one does for themselves. losing is something that happens to you. i think he chose these words on purpose. God wants you to surrender. to lose yourself for his sake. to give it ALL to him. finding is something one does on their own and often times without God. so look deep inside and question yourself. what are the things you go looking for. what are the things, activities, or people that you find your life or identity in.
God says lose it all in his name and you will find your true life…the one he has for you.
