Luke 9:25
“For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost?“
When our kids were young they enjoyed going to visit Joyce’s parents. Besides enjoying the normal pleasures of grandma’s house there was something special to anticipate. Less than a block away was a small grocery store. Outside the store was a pay phone. As with many pay phones, this one had a coin return. Several times a day the kids would go check the coin return to see if someone had failed to pick up their change. A few coins in their hands that they had “found” made their day.
The owner of the little grocery became very upset and chased them off as often as he saw them. We all wondered why he would be so mean to small children, until one day we happened to notice that he made a practice of going to the pay phone himself to check for “lost” change. He was a bitter man!
In Matthew 19 we learn of a young man that came to Jesus asking about eternal life. He claimed to have kept the commandments and wanted to know what else was required. The Lord told him to go and sell all of his possessions and follow Him. The young man went away sad, for he had great riches. He was unwilling to “lose” the things of this world in order to “find” the greatest of all riches.
Losing our lives for the sake of Christ means we save it for eternity. Hanging on to our selfish ways is a dead-end street, in more ways than one. Daily “losing” ourselves to Christ insures “finding” the new life which is eternal riches.
May God richly bless you as you bless others by your words and actions!
– – – Pastor Cecil