Just some perspective…

 Let’s pretend you go to the dr tomorrow and they told you, hey you’re (insert organ or choice) is in failure and not doing what it needs to do to keep you alive and the only thing at this point is for a replacement. We’ve exhausted every other avenue and the reality is if you don’t replace the organ you will die. I think the majority of people would, no brainer, say yes let’s replace it. Most people value their life and want to preserve it. 

Now let’s look at this through a spiritual lens…

Matthew 10:39 says ,”Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”

Luke 9: 23-24 And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it

Why do these verse tend to strike fear instead of freedom and life in the Believers heart? If someone is in need of an organ for the sake of living life, you don’t typically see them arguing about keeping their own. If they fight to keep their sick and dying organ, they are losing life literally. They can’t survive with it, so therefore they are choosing death for the sake of holding onto what was theirs coming into this world. It’s unheard of. It’s the same concept spiritually. 

As a follower of Christ we gain access to an “eternal pacemaker” of sorts. We gain access to the power that comes from the Holy Spirit and knowing God intimately. We gain access to life after this one, life eternal. We gain access to hope in times of pain. Freedom in times of captivity. Redemption in the place of shame. Grace in the place of failure. Things that can only come from stepping back and looking inward. From acknowledging that our own efforts and our own strength operates out of a place of defeat. It’s a hamster wheel of sorts. the reality is that we can not do it on our own. That our heart before Christ doesn’t lead us and guide is in wisdom and truth. That just like someone in need of an organ transplant…accepting their own body’s organ failure does not equate to loss. Choosing to replace their organ-temporary death as they can’t function without one-with another’s healthy organ, is in fact life and one much fuller. Yes there will be pain, and their will be changes and challenges for the life ahead but ultimately they are GAINING life through accepting a new organ in the place of their dying sick one. 

When we accept Christ we accept all that comes with it. But part of that is realizing that we will become aware of the war waging within us between our flesh and the Spirit. We will know that there is now something living and beating in us and leading in us that was not in us when we were brought into this world. Ultimately choosing Christ will always come with a cost, discomfort, change…but the reality is all of those are minor sacrifices in the end result of receiving life eternal. And though the longevity of that outcome will come outside of this world, when we do choose to die to our own sickness of doing it on our own and by our own standards and capabilities, we allow ourselves to begin to live this life in the abundance of what operating out of a heart led and guided by the Holy Spirit can bring. 

If there’s something that can make us live this life fuller and with more potential and purpose than we can ourselves comprehend, I know speaking for myself…I want it all.