Jesus Will Be the Death of You

Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.” – Matthew 16:25 (NIV) 

NEWS FLASH: You are going to die. Good morning!  

Other people die, everyone knows that. Acknowledging that I am going to expire, is, well, less common. There’s an app for that. WeCroak will send you five random notifications a day that say: “You are going to die.”  

Jesus talked openly about death, his and ours: “Whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.” 

Similarly, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., said, “There are some things so dear, some things so precious, some things so eternally true, that they are worth dying for. And I submit to you that if a person has not discovered something that they will die for, they aren’t fit to live.” (adapted)  

What burdens your heart?  

What keeps you up at night?  

For what cause are you willing to rise up early in the morning?  

What fills you with so much life and love, you touch eternity?  

What will you not only give your life to but also give your life for? 

Jesus will be the death of you … the small you, the you that seeks comfort and security. Instead, Jesus gives us a cause/cross worth living and dying for. There, we might find more life than we thought possible.  

That’s what resurrection is all about. We can experience it right now. 

Prayer
I have heard you calling in the night. I will go, if you lead me.

About the Author
Matt Laney is the Senior Pastor of Virginia Highland Church UCC in Atlanta, GA and the author of Pride Wars, a fantasy series published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for Young Readers. The first two books, The Spinner Prince and The Four Guardians are available now.