Then, this morning I was reading John 15 where Jesus is talking to his disciples about being the vine and how they must remain in him to bear fruit. When I got to verse 13, "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends," my thought from my run flooded back into my mind. Clearly, we are called to love like Jesus and that means we must be willing to lay down our lives for others.
Jesus says in Luke 14:26, "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children - yes, even his own life - he cannot be my disciple." Wow. Being a disciple of Jesus is more than giving him your dreams, desires and futures. It is more than claiming you want to live for him and giving up the comforts of your life. Being his disciple means being radically willing to lay down your life, mirroring the pure and selfless love of Jesus. But to pray such a prayer? To ask Jesus to give you the boldness to have this kind of love? I think of Dietrich Bonhoeffer who was willing to give his life and did just that. I think of Jim Elliot who also lost his life in the rainforest of Ecuador for proclaiming Christ.
Am I willing to go that far? I want to say, "Yes Jesus! I am willing to go anywhere and follow you!" I desire that. But honestly, it scares me. It scares me to think that I might lose my life. But my prayer is that the Lord will give me this boldness to live in reckless abandonment for him. He says in Matthew 16:25, "For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it."
Lord, supersede all else in my life. Teach me how to live in reckless, radical abandonment for you.
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ReplyDeleteI really understand what you are saying, and I want that prayer to be mine as well. But really, what does reckless mean? Foolish? And why would we be willing to die for Christ yet there is so much much need for witnesses of Christ?
ReplyDeleteIt might be a noble thought (to die for the sake of another), and I reckon many patriots and revolutionaries would have similar thoughts. But, isn't it a waste? Instead of dying for a country, ain't it better to live for it?
Likewise, instead of dying for Christ, isn't it better to live for him?
Yes, reckless means foolish, especially looking at it from the world's perspective. And being WILLING to die for Christ doesn't mean that you don't live as a witness for him. It means that your life belongs completely to God - even if that means death. Of course, we need to live for Christ and live up to the fullest of our potential because that brings glory to God. Jesus did just that. His life was a testimony to God's glory but because he knew he belonged to God, death was not too much for God to ask. I am not saying that we should specifically seek death, but we should hold our lives as trivial compared to the glory of God.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I don't think you can compare the nobility of dying for your country to dying for God. Was Stephen's death a waste? Was the death of Jim Elliot a waste? No, because God was glorified in their deaths. So in living or dying we belong completely to God in abandonment of the fear of death.