Take My Life... And Let It Be...

²⁴Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. ²⁵For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. ²⁶What 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? ²⁷For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father's glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done." -Matthew 16:24-27

The ODB this morning talks about a woman who 'lost her life' through self-sacrifice, but gained great rewards. I don't think this is quite the point of this verse. Though 'losing your life' for Christ may seem like a sacrifice at first, it is not. You gain so much more. In fact, it is only through this loss, that you can have anything at all... (I think of Paul- so that we cannot boast.)

And it does challenge me. Does 'losing my life' mean turning away from my studies? What does it mean in my life to 'deny everything'? How and where can I follow Christ, because it is what I want most... or perhaps that in and of itself is following Him... being prepared to follow Him above all is, being prepared to giving it up, wanting to follow Him most of all. Lord, teach me to follow You. Give us guidance on where You would have us go, what You would have us do.

⁶ And foreigners who bind themselves to the LORD
to serve him,
to love the name of the LORD,
and to worship him,
all who keep the Sabbath without desecrating it
and who hold fast to my covenant-

⁷ these I will bring to my holy mountain
and give them joy in my house of prayer.
Their burnt offerings and sacrifices
will be accepted on my altar;
for my house will be called
a house of prayer for all nations."-Isaiah 56:6-7

This verse speaks of how God is gathering in more people... expanding His flock to include eunichs and foreigners. Yet, the part that I find so beautiful is in the very first part of verse 6. "...who bind themselves to the Lord, to serve Him, to love the name of the Lord, to worship Him...." What does it mean to bind myself to the Lord in a very real way? How can I best serve Him? Lord, I want to serve You... show me how and where and when. Help me to listen attentively to Your call, to recognize Your voice, and to follow whatever You say.