Priority!

Priority!

Mark 8:35 AMP

[35] For whoever wishes to save his life [in this world] will [eventually] lose it [through death], but whoever loses his life [in this world] for My sake and the gospel’s will save it [from the consequences of sin and separation from God].

Jesus had many interactions with the crowd. In the chapter from where the verse above is taken, we see Jesus feeding more than 4,000 people with just 7 loaves of bread and a few small fish. All through the chapter, we see Jesus alternate lessons between the crowd, including the Pharisees of His time, and the disciples. One thing is clear: God's standards are universal. He does not lower the bar for anyone, no matter how influential or committed you are to His work. In fact, the closer you are to Him, the more you have to avoid sin, so you do not get destroyed. The crowd ate their fill, and their stomachs were full of bread, but their hearts were still not fully connected to Jesus. The crowd had become transactional; all that was important to them was what they could get out of it. Does this describe me at the moment? What lesosns does the verse above teach me? 

Of course, Jesus had to constantly remind His audience of the reason why he came to the earth. In all his earthly engagements, Jesus never forgot to remind his audience that he had come to seek and to save that which was lost. He needed His disciples to know this on a very personal level, and that why He asked the very personal question to them: 'Who do you say I am?'. We know the answer of Peter, and the consequences that followed his reponse. For me today, the question has not changed, and my response will define how I view what happens to me on this journey of life. If I know who Jesus is, and what He expects from me, I will not struggle with His will. A lot of the people of Jesus' day were learned and influential, but they forgot that learning and connections can only take you so far. The things of God need more than a fat wallet or friends in high places in order to be successful. 

That is the message in the verse above. For as many as seek earthly relevance only, there will be a lot of opportunities to showcase your talents. However, if your view goes beyond just the earthly, there are things that you must do to secure the eternal. The verse charges me not to seek to secure my life by labour or common sense, but by a connection and total submission to Jesus. However He decides to lead my life, that is His perogative. After all, the life itself was not mine to deal with as I please, but to discover and fulfil its purpose in conjunction with the One who formed it in the first place. If I want to save my life the right way, my life must be settled in Jesus, not in any other person, place or thing. Reflect on the price Jesus paid to secure eternity for me, and you can then understand why not making it into eternity with God will be the greatest loss ever. What is my priority: the world and all its temporary attractions, or eternal life with God? The choice, as always, is mine to make. God's time of favour is here.