Before you dig into our number two way to make our eternities intentional, I wanted to tell you about an opportunity to win a copy of my study of Ecclesiastes over on a sweet sister’s blog. Click this link to Andrea Schultz’s blog and follow the instructions to enter for a chance to win an autographed copy of Understanding What Matters Most!
As they sifted through the rubble left after the earthquake, Japanese rescue workers unearthed the body of a woman beneath the ruins of her home. They reached through the debris in hopes that she might still be alive, but as they touched her cold, hard body they knew all hope was gone.
But there was something strange about her bent over body that stirred the curiosity of one of the rescue workers. So, he slid his hand between the cracks in the rubble where he reached down below the woman’s frame. Shouting for joy, the rescue worker began to cry, “A child! A child!”
The brave mother had positioned herself over her little three month old son as the weight of her home crushed her to death. She chose to die so that her son might live.
What if our choice to die would give life to others? Well, sweet friends… it does!
In John 12:24, Jesus was preparing the disciples for His impending journey to the cross when He told them, “Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.”
But in John 12:25, He begins to change the focus from what was in His immediate future to what discipleship requires when He said, “Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life.”
Every day we are given opportunities to lose our lives. When the waiter slams your food on the table and doesn’t come back to fill your drink, it’s easy to let your flesh out of its cage and let the complaining begin.
When you are lied to, mistreated and taken advantage of, it’s normal to fight back, defend yourself and demand your rights. In fact, it’s not only normal – it’s human.
Every time you choose to serve others, choose last place in line, choose to stand so other’s can sit, choose to put someone else’s needs above your own for Jesus’ sake…every time you choose to die, your life speaks life to someone else.
Galatians 2:20 tells us…
“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”
So, every time you deny the right to blow a fuse – every time you crucify your flesh and respond in love – every time you choose die and let Christ live through you, you give life instead.
Many of us want to influence others for Christ, but it means we must be willing to die to make a difference.You see, if we want to make our eternity intentional, we must be willing to die so that our lives will speak life into the lives of others.
When we respond with eternity in view, our obstacles become opportunities, and we not only have the potential to make an eternal difference in someone else’s life, we also reap our own eternal rewards.
No matter how you look at it, it’s a win, win situation when we chose to make our eternity intentional!
We all fail the ‘dying to self‘ test, but if we consistently keep eternity on the forefront of our hearts and minds, we will be less likely to live and more likely to die. And every time we choose to die to ourselves for the sake of making an eternal difference in someone else’s life, it’s like throwing our body over theirs so they can live.
When’s the last time you died to self for the sake of demonstrating Jesus to someone else? How can you do that today? Share a time when you made your eternity intentional by choosing to die so others might experience life?
Stephanie,
Thank you so much for these encouraging words. As fleshly christians it is so hard to continously die to ourselves. I work at it more and more everyday. And God is working on me too.I just keep telling myself that Jesus died for me and went through so much more agony than I could ever imagine, why can't I die for him and his glory. Looking forward to the next 30 days of this series.
Love ya,
Amanda
Love your blog girl!
Amanda ~ You are SO right! It's hard and it's definitely daily…even second by second. So glad we're growing together!
Love ya back!
Cindy ~ I love your blog too! It's really awesome! I sent you a FB message – hope you got it! 🙂