Sacrifice is an open door

“Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Mark 8:34-37 NKJV)

The Bible clearly teaches that a person is saved by grace through faith, not works, meaning anything we can do. It also says apart from the grace of God, no one seeks Him, or is the slightest bit interested in serving Him. So what do these words of Jesus mean? Can someone become a martyr-type and get eternal life?

Jesus was talking to “the people” and His disciples. Most if not all of them had not yet realized that they were lost and in need of saving. Their hope concerning Jesus was that He would deliver them from the oppressive rule of the Romans. They didn’t think of Him in terms of being a personal Savior who would deliver them from the eternal consequences of their sin.

This is seen in the preceding verses. Jesus just told the disciples that He would “suffer many things, be rejected, be killed, and after three days rise again.” Peter took Him aside and rebuked Him. How could He die if He was going to deliver them? As usual, none of them understood that He would also live again.

So Jesus was trying to teach them that sacrifice was the way to life. First He would take up His cross and die for their sins. Gaining political power did not profit Him — He is already sovereign! Personal gain had no appeal either. Instead, He would give up His life so that others could live forever.

Hidden in this paradoxical passage is a principle: if I want to be of eternal benefit in the lives of others, I must be willing to drop whatever I want for the cause of Christ. It might be a day I’d planned for myself (like yesterday — didn’t happen), or my money, my energy, even my life.

Living out the words of Jesus means being constantly on call, constantly willing to switch from what I’m doing to whatever He wants me to do. It means listening to Him, never making my plans the priority. It means talking to someone when I’d rather be writing, or it might mean writing when I’d rather be talking. It means giving up the idea of being “in control” and trusting Him with my to-do list and my time.

I’m learning that He knows what is important and must happen. I’m also learning that life with Him at the helm is not only a challenge, but even more abundant that I ever imagined.

For instance, yesterday a problem came up involving family. It also involved dozens of phone calls that chopped my day into pieces. I prayed that God would provide a perfect solution. I certainly could not think of one.

Then, while discussing the problem with a family member, my mouth opened and out came the solution. I’d not thought of it before I said it. God made my words the answer to my prayer! Was that because I was willing to be engaged in this issue for most of the day rather than doing what I’d planned? Maybe. In any case I’m even more convinced that sacrifice is a doorway, but doing my own thing closes it.