BIBLE STUDY - Get a Life
Date: Nov 9, 2010
Topic(s): Obedience/Discipleship
Scripture: Matthew 10:39, Matthew 16:24-28, Mark 8:34-36, John 12:24-25
Maybe someone has said to you (or you've said to yourself), "You need to get a life!" If your heart was beating and your lungs were breathing in air, you knew the person wasn't talking about a physical life. Instead, your adviser was suggesting you needed to focus more on the things that make life enjoyable.
Jesus, on the other hand, tells us just the opposite. In John 12:25 (NASB), He says, "He who loves his life loses it; and he who hates his life in this world shall keep it to life eternal." Jesus expands upon this seeming contradiction in the Book of Matthew. Let's take a look.
WHAT DOES GOD SAY?
Then Jesus told his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul? For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay each person according to what he has done (Matthew 16:24-28, ESV).
* What does Jesus mean by losing your "life"?
* What promise do these verses end with?
MY THOUGHTS
On the surface, it seems like Jesus is talking in contradictions. "Whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it." It's only when we look at the context that it makes sense. Jesus is looking beyond the few years that we spend on earth. He has eternity in mind. The people who live totally for the "now," might gain great wealth and power, but they will leave it all behind when they die. Those people will lose everything they felt was worthwhile in life.
Even Christians can get sucked into focusing on things that are only temporal and forget that it's those things of eternal value that really matter. The life we want to be sure to "get" is not this life but the next one.
MY PART
What is the focal point of your life--the things of the world or the things of Christ? Make a list of the most important things in your life. Put a star beside those things that have eternal value. Determine to focus on these items and put a lower priority on all the rest.
NOTICE: This Bible Study or Devotional is solely penned and/or owned by the person(s) or ministry who's website(s) are included with each. I merely copy and paste them for the sole purpose of spreading God's Word to the world. May the Holy Spirit give you understanding as you read this Devotional/Study. GBU, JEL!
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