Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. . . Matthew 16: 24, 25, NKJV.
Merciful God, as we come into Your presence, we come in total gratitude for Your expressed mercy and love toward us. We ask that You will speak to our hearts through Your Word, and help us to be obedient listeners. In the name of Jesus Christ we humbly pray. Amen.
We have come to the last revelation in the chapter. In this revelation, it becomes very clear that “[God’s] ways are not our ways” (Isaiah 55: 8b). In just about every aspect of life, the ways of the LORD, defies all human logic. When He asks us to give, He assures us that what is left over after we have freely given, will do more than what we could have done with the whole. He assures us that ninety percent, with His blessing, will always accomplish more than one hundred percent without His blessing! He invites us to “prove” Him (Malachi 3: 8-12).
Perhaps at first glance, our human logic will not allow us to see how this could work; but let us keep in mind this saying: “Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world” (1 Corinthians 1: 20b)? Therefore, we cannot measure any of God’s doings, by what makes sense to us. Let me just share with you for a few moments, some of the conclusions that I have drawn by looking a little closer at the promise in Malachi:
“Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house, and try Me now in this,” says the LORD of hosts, “If I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it. “ And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, so that he will not destroy the fruit of your ground, nor shall the vine fail to bear fruit for you in the field,” says the LORD of hosts” (10, 11).
Notice the extent of God’s blessings: God will rebuke the devourer. The common devourer in the days of Israel’s early history was the locust. When an army of locust invaded a field, the loss, at times, was incalculable. It could result in famine if the nation had not secured any food in their barn, or storehouses, and was depending solely on the harvest that the locust had eaten. God’s promise is that He would take care of the devourer – He would rebuke it! Regardless of the nature of the devourer, it was no match for God!
In our day it could be the devourer of sickness. The amount of money people spend in doctor bills, and medications, could leave them bankrupt! But if God rebuked the devourer that causes our infirmities, those bills would cease to be! There would be more than enough left over for other needs. Destroying the fruit of our land could represent the loss of our retirement because of the loss of a job, or a corporation that declared bnkruptcy. Yet the psalmist testifies, “I have been young, and now am old; yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his descendants begging bread” (Psalm 37: 25). The vine failing to bear fruit in the field could represent a bad investment, or the possible loss of your lifetime savings. God promised that through all of these circumstances, we could prove Him. During the reign of dictator Manuel Antonio Noriega, just before a bank where I had some savings issued a statement that its clients could make no further withdrawals, I was impressed by God to withdraw the savings I had in that bank. If I had my way, I would not have made that move. Thank God His ways are not ours!
Our text for today, speaks about saving our lives or losing them. Here again we find what I consider an illogical analogy, “whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it[.]” What life is Christ talking about, should be our first question. The last part of the verse gives us a clue, “for My sake” – this seems to be making mention of our spiritual life. This portion of the chapter seems to capture the whole intention of the entire chapter – that as Christians, all that we do, should be for God’s sake, for His glory, for His praise! The only way this can happen, is when we are willing to lose our agendas for Christ’s agenda; lose our ambitions and accept Christ’s will for our lives; lose our man-made methods of salvation, and accept His grace, that “saves to the uttermost, all who come unto God through Him” (Hebrews 7: 25).
The revelation that Christ was giving His disciples was just what they would need when they were persecuted for the gospel’s sake – for preaching the Good News – that God sent His One and Only Son, born of a woman, to save the human race from certain death! All the other revelations – that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the living God; the revelation that Christ’s church was built upon the solid Rock – Christ Jesus; even the unpleasant revelation that Christ would soon die, would now make sense. It would make it easier for them to be willing to lose their lives for His sake. It would be worth the while to die to self, in order to live for Him!
To live for their Master was to find the real meaning to life. It represented a life that was not dependent upon circumstances, nor human greatness, nor the status quo. It was a life that defied all human logic, because this life was hid in God, through Jesus. It was a life that was built upon the Solid Rock that will still be standing when all human philosophies have lost their credibility. It is a life that would find its true meaning, and fulfillment, in eternity.
This revelation, like the others, was not meant only for the twelve apostles, it is for all of us who believe in Jesus, the Christ!