“Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.” — Matthew 10:39 (ESV)
Surrender
Jesus makes an important and paradoxical statement in Matthew 10:39 (ESV): “Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.” What does it look like to lose your life for His sake? How is it possible to find life as the result of losing it? You and I are only truly living to the degree that we’ve surrendered our lives to Jesus. True life is eternal, Kingdom-based and fueled by the love of God. Life apart from God is fleeting and meaningless. It’s for this reason Solomon in Ecclesiastes 1:14 (ESV) says, “I have seen everything that is done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and a striving after wind.”
We have opportunity every day to lay our lives down at the feet of Jesus in response to His great love that we might experience the abundant life only He can give. Surrender positions our hearts to receive the incredible reward of being fully God’s. God won’t force His blessings on us. He won’t force His presence or His love. He patiently draws us near, hoping that in response to His overwhelming affections we will lay down our lives that we might experience all the wonders He has in store for us.
Humbling ourselves before God as our King, Creator and Sustainer is absolutely vital in going deeper. Pride so often stands in the way of God’s conditional promises. Scripture is clear in James 4:6 (ESV), “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” Promises like “Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” found in Matthew 6:33 (ESV) require a level of humility and surrender most aren’t willing to give.
We often associate humility with weakness, when in reality declaring our weakness before an Almighty God is the only posture of strength we can take. It’s for this reason that Paul says in 2 Corinthians 11:30 (ESV), “If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness.” When we humble ourselves before God and surrender, we position ourselves to receive all the abundance of help, power, guidance and love we could ever need.
God is an endless ocean of love, help, healing and power. The Holy Spirit who dwells within you longs to empower you with everything you need to truly live in the fullness of life available to you. If you will choose to lay down your life in surrender to God’s plans, purposes, truth and perfect will, you will experience a life unlike anything you’ve known.
Take time today to lose your life that you may find it in God. Cast aside all pride and selfish ambition that you might pursue the wonderful, abundant life of one submitted to an almighty, omnipotent, omnipresent and fully loving Father.
— Craig Denison, First 15
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