Thursday, January 25

THURSDAY, JANUARY 25, 2018

In today's reading, we encounter Jesus's poignant call to discipleship:  "Then Jesus said to his disciples, 'Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.  For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.  What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?  Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?  For 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 they have done.'" (Matthew 16:24-27)

According to Jesus, proper discipleship means an all-encompassing surrender to God's purposes—losing our lives so that we may gain His.  This self-abnegation leads to eternal rewards, but we won't see the benefit if we remained mired in mundane thinking.  We need the quickening of our minds from the Holy Spirit to gain that eternal perspective that frees us to experience the life that is truly life.  Have you received a glimpse of this eternal vision?

Looking at another part of today's reading, we find the Egyptian midwives, who willfully disobeyed Pharaoh and protected the Hebrew babies.  They were willing to face grave danger themselves in shielding the vulnerable children from senseless death.  Their testimony of faithfulness may have influenced Moses, too, who took significant risk in order to stand in the gap for his people, the Israelites.

For what or for whom are you living in 2018?  How may you invest in loving God and loving people this year?  What support do you need to make that happen?  Whom could you encourage along the way?

Lord Jesus, thank You for teaching us the truth that giving our lives away brings true life.  Give us the courage to surrender what little we have to receive the riches of knowing You and experiencing Your presence forever.  Draw the eyes of our hearts to Your eternal perspective.  In Your Name, amen.