Lose my Life!?

I remember the first time I read the New Testament. Before I got my Bible I had never read a single word of God’s message. I received it the day I became a Christian in July and then drank every word like it was a cool spring I found in the desert. It was around Christmas when I was first experienced Jesus, it was exciting I mean I’ve been hearing Him all summer and I finally get to meet Him. My first impression was “Wow, this is so true” and then “Wait a minute what does He mean there?” It wasn’t far off from His disciples who were just as baffled and amazed. There was one particular claim that has confused me until a short while ago “If anyone would come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for Me and for the Gospel will save it.” Mark 8: 34-35. The main question was this, what does it mean to save and lose my life? Does Jesus mean I must become a martyr? Or should I lock myself away without any worldly possessions? Well that seems pretty hard to do, but how can I lose my life? My church preached on this a while ago and while I sat in the pew I had a thought. As I’ve said before we can get lost in the day to day business of life, we go to work, make money, buy things, cook dinner, take care of families, play on sports teams, go to school, the list goes on and on. Bottom line is, it is easy to get caught up in it all. The question I had to ask is this, when in my life have I gone out of my way to show Jesus, maybe it is helping the new kid find his classes, holding the door, not cheating on that test, being nice to the rookie on the team, when have I gone out of my way to serve others? As I said, there is a cost to follow Christ, it means being kind when we’re mad, being honest when caught, and being humble when we’re proud, but the reward is that when we carry this cross and walk in His footsteps we fully realize His presence and love in our lives. It’s Sunday, I’ll ask you this, over the course of this week try to make a point of showing God’s love to someone every day, and by Saturday reflect on where you stand with God.