When I was a child, things were very concrete. I remember the time when my mother told me that lightning was attracted to water. She, of course, was worried about me lingering in the swimming pool as children are wont to do, as a storm approached. Being a rather literal adolescent I, of course, took her at her word - and refused to drink from a cup, turn on the faucet, or go to the bathroom if there was even a hint of an electrical display.
So, naturally, when I first heard this famous scripture, you can imagine what I thought.
John 15:12-14 (ESV) "This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.
Would I, could I, I wondered, give my life for someone else? Could I be one of those people who jumped out in front of a truck in order to toss someone else out of the way? Would I inch into the quicksand, or out onto the ice to stretch out a lifeline, even at the risk of falling in myself? This brought about a good deal of guilt when, as a teen, I decided I wasn't quite ready for such a sacrifice.
As I aged, several things changed. Motherhood, of course, brought a new understanding of 'laying down' my life. Most mothers would gladly step in front of a truck to save their child. But I also came to understand that this verse had another meaning. Other things in my life - challenges, difficulties that I had to perservere through, choices that were made - each of these were a kind of surrender, a differnt kind of 'laying down' of my life.
I know now that this verse can indeed mean an act as dramatic as choosing to sacrifice your life for another's, but it also has a more subtle meaning. When you follow Christ, you choose each and every day to 'lay down' your life - that is, the life your human nature would choose, which is a life of satisfying the 'god' of self. I may choose to 'lay my life down' when I choose not to pursue a certain career because I know that I would be forced, within it, to make choices that would go against God's will and word. I might choose to 'lay my life down' by being obedient to a call of God's, when that call asks that I remain in a situation I would rather flee, or when God calls on me to make a difficult stand that I know may come between me and my family - that might separate me from the ones I love for the sake of my King and Savior. I may 'lay my life down' in this non-inclusive 'inclusive' 21st century simply by stating the truth and refusing to yield.
So what does this have to do with gaining life? It seems it is all about losing, doesn't it? But in losing our life, we gain something much more precious - eternity.
Romans 5:7-8 (ESV)
For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Would I die for my child? Yes. Would I lay down my life for a family member? Most likely. Would I sacrifice what I want for someone I love? Probably. Would I die for a stranger, whom I did not consider 'worthy'? For someone who would, given the opportunity, spit on me, wound me, and nail me to a tree, leaving me to die a slow, tourturous death?
Probably not.
But this is what Jesus did. And this is why we who know and love Him, call Him Lord.
So, naturally, when I first heard this famous scripture, you can imagine what I thought.
John 15:12-14 (ESV) "This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.
Would I, could I, I wondered, give my life for someone else? Could I be one of those people who jumped out in front of a truck in order to toss someone else out of the way? Would I inch into the quicksand, or out onto the ice to stretch out a lifeline, even at the risk of falling in myself? This brought about a good deal of guilt when, as a teen, I decided I wasn't quite ready for such a sacrifice.
As I aged, several things changed. Motherhood, of course, brought a new understanding of 'laying down' my life. Most mothers would gladly step in front of a truck to save their child. But I also came to understand that this verse had another meaning. Other things in my life - challenges, difficulties that I had to perservere through, choices that were made - each of these were a kind of surrender, a differnt kind of 'laying down' of my life.
I know now that this verse can indeed mean an act as dramatic as choosing to sacrifice your life for another's, but it also has a more subtle meaning. When you follow Christ, you choose each and every day to 'lay down' your life - that is, the life your human nature would choose, which is a life of satisfying the 'god' of self. I may choose to 'lay my life down' when I choose not to pursue a certain career because I know that I would be forced, within it, to make choices that would go against God's will and word. I might choose to 'lay my life down' by being obedient to a call of God's, when that call asks that I remain in a situation I would rather flee, or when God calls on me to make a difficult stand that I know may come between me and my family - that might separate me from the ones I love for the sake of my King and Savior. I may 'lay my life down' in this non-inclusive 'inclusive' 21st century simply by stating the truth and refusing to yield.
So what does this have to do with gaining life? It seems it is all about losing, doesn't it? But in losing our life, we gain something much more precious - eternity.
Romans 5:7-8 (ESV)
For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Would I die for my child? Yes. Would I lay down my life for a family member? Most likely. Would I sacrifice what I want for someone I love? Probably. Would I die for a stranger, whom I did not consider 'worthy'? For someone who would, given the opportunity, spit on me, wound me, and nail me to a tree, leaving me to die a slow, tourturous death?
Probably not.
But this is what Jesus did. And this is why we who know and love Him, call Him Lord.
Image from Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ
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