THE HIGH COST OF DYING
By Pastor Timothy Burdick
"If anyone would come after Me, he must deny himself and
take up his cross daily and follow Me. For
whoever wants to save his life will lose it,
but whoever loses his life for Me will save
it" (Luke 9:23-24)
All of
us have had to reflect on death recently as
the air waves have been blanketed with the
passing of Michael Jackson. While death is
fresh in our mind, I would like us to
reflect on its cost, for in every way it is
overwhelming. Looking at it from a dollars
and cents viewpoint alone, the cost is
staggering, but from God’s perspective, the
cost is eternal.
In the
Bible, three kinds of death are spoken of,
and we will examine them one at a time. 1)
there is physical death which we all have to
face. This physical death is simply a
transition from this world to the next.
David says about it in Psalms 39 verse 5, “You have made my days a mere handbreadth; the span of
my years is as nothing before you. Each
man's life is but a breath.”
You may
be young with seemingly limitless time but,
this is just an illusion. Set positive
goals; don’t just exist, going aimlessly
through life, for this is not true living
but rather dying slowly. The person who
chooses to live aimlessly pays a high price.
He or she is robbed of all true meaning and
beauty.
Therefore, God is asking: "What are you
doing with your life today? For He wants to
help you to live a life that is full and
overflowing."
2)
Hebrews 9:27-28 says, "Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to
face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once
to take away the sins of many people; and He
will appear a second time, not to bear sin,
but to bring salvation to those who are
waiting for Him."
The
second kind of death is spiritual. This
spiritual death robs man of being in a vital
union with God both now and forever. A
dynamic creative spiritual life is what
separates us from the animals, and brings
meaning and purpose to what would otherwise
be a day-to-day existence.
You can
receive this spiritual life today by
agreeing with God that you have sinned and
are in need of His grace, for not doing so
will have the eternal consequences which I
alluded to above. If you have already done
this, God is asking you again: "What are you
doing with your life now? Will you make a
new commitment to serve Me fully, and not
just with some kind of half-hearted
approach?"
Finally, 3) Christ asks us all to die to
ourselves on a daily basis. He touched on
this in Luke 9:23-24, when He said to His
listeners: "If anyone
would come after Me, he must deny himself
and take up his cross daily and follow Me.
For whoever wants to save his life will lose
it, but whoever loses his life for Me will
save it."
The
cross was a symbol of death, which Jesus
transformed into a symbol of life and hope.
Dying to your will and living for God, will
bring death to your old ways, but new life
is given, and hope will become real to you,
for He has your best in mind. So for the
third time God is asking you through tears
of concern: “What are you doing with your
life today?”
Remember Philippians 4:13 - "I can do all things through Christ Jesus who
strengthens me."
Visit Pastor Timothy at New Vision Ministries website www.mynvm.org
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www.FridayStudy.org
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