Recognizing Our Need to Give - Day 24

September 18, 2012

"For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it."  Matthew 16:25 (NIV)

In this part of Matthew, Jesus begins to inform his disciples on his future - his death and resurrection, and their role in spreading the Gospel.  He wants to make certain they understand the importance of following Him, setting the same example he has set.  This is an important principle, not only for the disciples themselves, who have already given up their families and worldly goods to follow Jesus, but for them to impress on others.  Those who "lose" their lives to the Lord will find peace, comfort and eternal life.

Our role today is the same - to carry forward the same example as disciples of Jesus - "whoever loses his life for me will find it."  The empahsis of "losing" our life to Jesus, could just as easily be "using" our life for Jesus - giving of ourselves, our time, our talents, our treasures because we want to be more like Him and because we want to spread His good news to others.

Dear Lord, help me to recognize how my time and treasures can be used to help others and to know how important that is in our congregation and throughtout our community. I ask this in Jesus name, Amen.

Author:  Shirley Evans