Living For More
Money, success, status, fancy clothes. It all sounds like a dream, right? Until you have all of those things and still feel empty. You still find yourself searching for more. How much do the material, worldly things matter to us? They can seem like everything in the moment, but they still cause us to feel incomplete. Matthew 16:25-27 says, “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.”
What does it mean to gain the whole world? To most people, that sounds amazing, right? What else could you ask for? But as followers of Christ, we know that the world and everything in it is fleeting. Nothing, and I mean NOTHING, is worth losing your soul. As Christians, we need to stop exchanging eternity for a moments pleasure. In the midst of living in a world that preaches “you deserve to have whatever you want”, don’t lose sight of what’s most important. Paul said it perfectly in Philippians 3:8-9. He said, “What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ - the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith.” Isn’t that kind of a crazy thought? What if we lived our lives in such a posture that we considered everything worldly as garbage? How much more freedom would we feel? Our only substance should be from the Lord and everything that is from him.
We must learn to deny ourselves and to live for our Savior, Jesus Christ. He is worthy. He is deserving of every part of our lives. Philippians 1:21 says, “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.” How powerful is that? Paul is saying that while he is living on this earth, he is going to do everything he can to live like Christ and to make him known to those who don’t know him. And when he dies, he loses absolutely nothing. Instead, he gains everything! He gains eternal life in Heaven with the King of Kings. At the end of our lives, I’m pretty positive that none of us will regret not having the nicest house, car, or clothes. We won’t regret not working out more or not being as fit as we could be. What I think we will regret is not spending enough time with Jesus and those around us. Not loving people to the best of our ability, and not saying “yes” to more opportunities to minister to others.
Those that live as they are in the world and of the world are a slave to its habits and customs. But we are called to “not conform to the patterns of the world, but be transformed by the renewing of our mind” (Romans 12:2). When we fix our eyes on the things above and live in the world, but NOT of it, we are no longer bound to its patterns, and we can find hope in the One who is greater! We get to live above the ways of the world, the sorrows of the world, and the temptations of the world. We can find freedom from seeking approval from people and can instead find approval in the One who created us. So, what are you living to gain? The world and your temporary wants? Or eternal life and reward in Heaven?
Challenges:
Make it a habit to start asking yourself “Is this choice going to temporarily satisfy me or leave a lasting, eternal impact?” It’s beneficial take a step back and evaluate your decisions rather than making choices on a whim.
Create boundaries. I do this by limiting screen time and allowing more time to read and be in the presence of God. This time helps me to reprioritize my thoughts and desires to be set on the eternal rather than the temporary.
Read/memorize scripture. The more you know about the Lord and his character, the more passionate and driven you will be to share that with others.
Prayer:
Lord, thank you for every single person reading this. Thank you for their life and I pray that they would all know just how loved and cared they are by you. That they would know they were created on purpose and for a purpose. I pray that our lives would be glorifying to you. That we would be set apart and look differently than everyone around us. That the Spirit inside of us would be so attractive that it would draw people in, and we would get to share the good news of your grace with them. May we steward the things in our lives well, but consider every worldly thing as nothing to us because we know we live for a greater purpose. Thank you for the free gift of salvation through the blood of Jesus. We love you and give you all the honor and praise. In Jesus’ name! Amen!