Following Jesus means learning to let go of worldly attachments and desires so that you can truly gain life in Him – both now and eternally.
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SHAUNA: Welcome to Joni Eareckson Tada: Sharing Hope. Have you ever thought, “It’s not easy to lose!” Well, Joni has! And here she is to explain.
JONI: I was thinking of that the other day when I came across Matthew 19:29-30 where Jesus says, “Everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first.” Well, thankfully, my sisters and my father and mother were all followers of Jesus. I never had to walk away from the Eareckson family in order to claim Christ as Lord and Savior. But plenty of my friends have – whether they are Jewish or Muslim, they have had to “lose” their close relationships with their family members when they embraced Christ.
The concept of “losing” is an integral part of the Christian faith. I remember several years ago when Ted Turner, who turned a bankrupt Atlanta advertising company into CNN media empire – he called Christianity a “religion for losers.” Later on, he retracted his comment and apologized for his words. But you know what? I’ve got to wonder – I mean, wasn’t he right? Christianity is for losers. It’s a religion of losers. I mean, look, Jesus himself says in Luke 17, “Whoever tries to keep his life will lose it, and whoever [I love this part] loses his life will preserve it.” To follow Jesus means to lose one’s self to this world. It means losing all your winnings in this world in order to lay up treasures in the next. To be a disciple of Christ means to annul your pride, reverse your fleshly wants, lose your affections for worldly idols, and put behind the carefully constructed plans for your personal success. And believe me, that goes against our natural grain.
I know it’s how I feel! I constantly have to examine my priorities and my wants and wishes like: am I watching too much of the Food Channel? Yikes! Should I be spending this much money on lipstick and mascara? Do I really need a second dessert? Am I spending too much time on my computer? And hey, it’s Sunday – should I really be working on this project? And if there’s a financial windfall, am I fattening and widening my personal borders? Or shouldn’t I be giving this extra money to that ministry that advances Christ’s Gospel?! Constantly I’m having to ask myself, do I want to hold onto this? Or let it go? Do I want to keep this? Or can I live without it? You and I, as part of our daily Christian walk, must look at our choices through the lens of Luke 17: if we try to keep our life, if we try to keep our wants and wishes, we will lose – but if we let them go, if we diminish our appetites and desires, we end up preserving our lives. It’s all about losing – losing our winnings in this world.
It is, to be perfectly honest, a perfectly practical way to follow in the steps of Jesus. He absolutely delights in those who consider themselves the last, the least, the littlest, and the most lost without Him. Christianity is not a religion of winners. It is a faith journey of overcomers who learn to gain by losing.
But! There is one respect in which Christians do not lose: we do not lose heart! Second Corinthians 4 says, “Never lose heart.” What we shake off here on earth, we accrue a hundred times more in heaven. So today, in what ways can you “lose yourself” to this world? Humble yourself before God and let go of that possession or relationship; that title or position and give it to the Lord.
© Joni and Friends