Why do I hesitate to give my all to God? Why do I not want to lose my life for the sake of God’s Kingdom? Jesus said, “If you seek to save your life, you will lose it, but if you seek to lose your life for the sake of the Kingdom, you will find it.” So, if I seek to hang onto my life, I lose out. If I embrace dying to self, I only gain. And what gain it is too.
What is to be gained is so much better than what is to be lost. God is all powerful. He is merciful, He is just. He is kind. He is love. Walking in His Holy Spirit, hearing the Spirit’s directing and participating in what the Spirit is doing is life giving. Receiving words of knowledge or prophecies or miracles or healings through my surrendered life is more than fun, it is exhilarating. Possessing within my physical body the power of the Holy Spirit, working in conjunction with God, what could be more life giving? Having God’s eternal life bubbling up and spilling out through me to a hurting and lost world like an underground spring sputtering out of the rock, providing life-giving water to whoever might come by to drink, or better yet, to whomever the Spirit sends, what could be compared to this? What life in this physical world could be compared to experiencing the eternal life coursing though my physical body?
Being involved in God’s work of redemption cannot be compared to anything here on earth. Seeing people come into a relationship with their redeemer who loves them so much, who wouldn’t want to be a part of that? Why settle for such a lesser reality this physical life offers? No. I’m ready to go all the way with Jesus, no matter what.
What can be compared to the realities of what God offers, here and in eternity? Certainly, troubles in this life pale in comparison:
I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.
Romans 8:18
Some may say that even this perspective is coming from a selfish motive. It is all about what I get out of it. But even Jesus speaks of rewards and punishment to motivate us. I don’t think this is wrong. I also wouldn’t call it selfish if one is willing to die to their ‘self’. Instead, I would consider it yielding my will to accomplish God’s will. It is giving up what I want in order to accomplish what God wants. If the motivation for doing this comes through what I get out of it in the end, then thank God he has given me this motivation.
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