Hosanna Restoration Church

It is pretty common to hear someone say, “It’s my life” when they are about to do something that others may be encouraging them not to do. Basically, Jesus is confirming that fact as He explains that we have a choice as to what we do with our lives. Once we have come to know Jesus, we have a choice as to whether we will follow Him or not. He makes is clear that following Him involves more that acknowledging that He exists. He says if we want to follow Him we need to deny ourselves and take up our cross.

Remember, Jesus said this right after He had finished admonishing Peter for savoring the things of men. In order to follow Jesus we are always going to have to choose His way over everything else. If we really want to experience all of the life that God has promised us in Christ Jesus, then we are going to have to trust Him enough to be willing to deny ourselves.

Let’s face it; self or more specifically selfishness is a big problem. Even when we recognize it, it is a hard foe to beat! In the natural, we mostly prefer ourselves. The truth is, we are often self-motivated in the wrong way. Even in our pursuit of God we can end up seeking Him with selfish motives. If, when we come to understand the blessings and goodness of God we only seek Him for what we can get; that is selfish.

Jesus made it very plain here that the choice is ours. If we want to keep our life we can, but we will really lose it. If we want to have our way over God’s way we are free to do that, but the end of that will not be pretty. If however, we are willing to lay our lives and our preferences at His feet, He will in turn give us the abundant life He has promised.

Thinking of this gave me an idea for a reality television show. The challenge of the game would be to live for God for forty days with the customary prize of one million dollars going to the winner. It would of course be complete with temptations from the devil and opportunities to sin at every turn. I guarantee you that there would be people lining up to play who have never even heard of Jesus. Therefore, there would be one-day auditions in order to find the best players. The All Knowing all Seeing Eye of God would reveal everything to the audience. Unlike most of the current shows, lying would of course not be considered a good tactic! The winner would not necessarily be the most talented either. The winner would be the one who is totally yielded to the will of God.

Well the reality is that we have a far greater prize and a far greater life offered to whosoever will give up their life for Jesus’ sake, and it is not a game! This is just the way it is, and everyone who will do this wins! So will we run the race in order to attain the prize or will we choose our own way and lose the life Jesus offers us?