Skip to main content

Life and Death


We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body. So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you. (II Corinthians 4:10-12)
 
For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? (Matthew 16:25-26)
 
        There’s a choice to be made. It’s simple but it’s hard. It seemed most clear to me during my last career. As I crossed the parking lot I thought that death would be preferable to another day there. At the same time, I believed that God had directed me there. I considered the verses from Matthew. I could either escape from where I was and save my life and lose my soul (not to hell, but to self) or I could die a little more every day and be more alive through eternity as a result.
         It’s not that I thought my salvation was at issue. It was more that the quality of that salvation, or perhaps my sanctification was at issue. I could refuse to face what I believed God had called me to face or I could trust Him for my life and accept this death to self. I started thinking of the parking lot as my little Gethsemane. I could either say, “Not my will but Thine” or I could say, “Not Thy will but mine!”
          For years, I told my father that I didn’t want to move to Florida. For a fewer number of years, I told him that when and if it reached the point that he needed me to go with him to Florida, I would. Not quite two years ago, I left my career (as miserable as it was), walked away from my social status (as low as it was) and became even more of a nobody, living two half-lives. It’s not easy. It’s simple but it’s hard. I don’t have control of much. I feel guilty for going to the dentist, because I’m not spending my money.
          And yet, these deaths to self gave life. As miserable as my career was, my schedule had some flexibility. It allowed me to do things I couldn’t have done in a “better” job that demanded more hours or a more regular schedule. Becoming Dad’s unpaid caregiver has allowed me the freedom to write.[1] My soul is more alive because I’ve died to self and to “life” as the world defines it.  

[1] This is something that those protesting for women to receive “equal pay” don’t mention. The price men pay for their “greater” paycheck is with their lives. On average in America, women live to be 81, men, 76. Women more often make the choice to walk away from the slavery of the workplace to care for children or parents. Those who ridicule that decision are trying to sell slavery and the giving up of freedom in the name of “equality.”

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Higher Thoughts

  “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the  Lord . “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:8-9)           The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments,   for, “Who has known the mind of the Lord      so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ. (I Corinthians 2:15-16) If you read about the ancient gods of the various peoples, you’ll find that they think just like people. In fact, they think just like the sort of people we really wouldn’t want to be around. They think like the most corrupt Hollywood producer or, like hormone overloaded teens with no upbringing.   It’s embarrassing to read. I have a friend who argues that because God is not just like us, He is so vastly dif...
2 comments
Read more

Think About These Things

                 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. (Philippians 4:8) This passage is a major challenge for me. Like everyone else, I struggle to keep my thoughts from wandering off into the weeds, then wondering what possible benefits those weeds might have… Sigh. But as a writer, I have to delve at least a little into the ignoble, wrong, impure, unlovely, and debased. After all, there’s no story if everything’s just as it should be and everyone’s happy. As Christians, there are times when we need to deal with all the negatives, but that makes it even more important that we practice turning our minds by force of attention to what is noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy. It’s just too easy to get stuck in a swamp. With my...
1 comment
Read more

A Virgin?

           Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. (Isaiah 7:14)           This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. (Matthew 1:18)           But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.”            “How will this be,” Mary asked the...
Post a Comment
Read more