For most of us, life and death are opposites. That is the case in natural beings. We either live or we die. Yet, in Christ, we are to die in order to live. What a paradox?! To mere mortal minds, it doesn’t make much sense.
The Apostle Paul tells us that by dying to self and living in the death of Jesus Christ; meaning the grace, mercy, and forgiveness granted us through His death, we live. This is no common nor average life. It is an abundant life, as Jesus promised in John 10:10.
We wonder how this can be so. Because of the overwhelming messages of our culture stating we are to live for today, we cannot comprehend what it means to die to ourselves so that we may truly live. We struggle understanding what it means to live in the death of Christ so that we live as He desires us to live.
It is by giving up our desires and preferences, our yearnings and misunderstandings, that we can truly see what Jesus desires. We can only follow what we can see. Without seeing Him as He truly is, without seeing His teachings for what they truly are, we cannot fully follow Him.
Paul knew what it meant to risk his life to live for Jesus. Rarely are any of us ever put in danger for our belief. Thankfully, we live in a country that allows us to follow our beliefs without fear of death. Yet, we often face persecution in other ways, and that may hinder us from truly living.
I pray we all seek to live in the death of Jesus. I pray we die to ourselves to live the abundant life Jesus promised. I pray each one of us will deepen our faith in Jesus and let it be a light into the world. Die to yourself. Give up your selfish desires. Live the abundant life in Jesus.
2 Corinthians 4:11 For while we live, we are always being given up to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus may be made visible in our mortal flesh.
Marty Pressey 