Jesus said in this section, ‘If I love father or mother more, love son or daughter more, or refuse my own cross more than following Jesus – I’m not worthy of him’ (vv. 37-38). If I do what is considered so normal, what is so proper, to love me and mine first, how can Jesus turn that on its head and call me unworthy of him? How could he be so full of himself, if he is? Could he really be that good, or is he out of line to even think this? Yes, he is that good; and no, he is not out of line if we value him this much.
Now look at v. 39: “He that finds his life shall lose it: and he that loses his life for my sake shall find it.” What he did at the Cross in rolling the dreadful curse right off of you and onto his own shoulders, because he valued you that much – well, that’s just gripping of your utmost for his sake. Losing your life for him is more worthy than even saving your own soul. In trusting him like that, Jesus welds a communion between you and him that surpasses any other relationship you can compare it to, including Mom and Dad or brother and sister. Your losing the meaning of your life for him sets you up for a discovery – your new life, and its meaning, in Jesus. Jesus is that good? Yes he is.
On your own, it is said you only get out of life what you give it. But to pursue that without Jesus equates to only a pursuit of yourself: that equals inestimable loss. If it’s true that you only get what you give, lose your miserable life to Jesus and see what you get instead: inestimable gain. The discarded life will become the discovered life. Your dreams die for your Redeemer’s dream for you, and that’s worth so much more. If you follow your own heart, you will get smoked by it; follow Jesus and you get raised from the dead.
Jonathan Cahn has shown in his The Book of Mysteries (FrontLine: Mary Lake, FL; 2016, day 30), that in the Hebrew Text of the OT there is no true word for ‘to have.’ What you think you have is only an illusion; rather, it’s only borrowed and entrusted. Everything you have is temporary and you can’t take it with you. In the end, you have to let it all go. And when you think you have what you don’t have (like your life), you live in conflict with the truth. But not everything is temporary out there. Really, there’s only one thing you can have that itsn’t, and that is God. He’s the only true possession you have, i.e. the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.
With Jesus winning isn’t everything; losing is. So lose your life for him. Live dead. Then you’ll be capable of a real life. Flow in your new life. Surf. Fear not to be the wipe-out king who only lives for Jesus, which is your new life. Jesus really is that good and nothing compares. This is your reason to live.
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