What are you willing to lose? Are you willing to lose something you have so you can acquire something better? Are you willing to trade away something valuable to gain something of higher value? What if that is what is required to gain more than you can imagine?
We often do not want to lose something we have that is of value to us. This is especially true if the object was handed down to us from a parent or grandparent. It may also be true if we paid a large sum of money for it. We like to hold on to our possessions.
Notice that Jesus states that we must give up ourselves to be His follower. Obviously, this does not mean we must physically die. It does mean we must give up our personal preferences, our own desires, and perhaps our possessions.
We must carry our cross. Our cross may be any number of things. We may be like Joni Earekcson Tada, who became a quadriplegic through a diving accident. We may wrestle with being lonely. We may have any number of sins that we continuously fight against.
But notice how Jesus wraps this up. He says to save our life we must lose it. He means we must surrender to Him and His desires for us. When we do this, we gain an abundant life and eternal life. It is through submission to Him, His teachings, and following His example that we gain true life. Otherwise, we live a substitute life. We might call it a fake life. Jesus is the only one who can grant us real life.
I pray we all submit to Jesus. I pray we decide to lose our life to gain a true life. I pray each one of us will give up our preferences, desires, and even our possessions as God requires of us. Submit to Jesus. Give Him your life. Accept true life from Him. Turn your desires over to Him and receive His desires for you.
Luke 9:23-24 Then he said to them all, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will save it.”
Marty Pressey 