Then Jesus said to his followers, "If any person wants to follow me, he must say 'No' to the things he wants. That person must accept the cross (suffering) that is given to $him, and he must follow me. The person that wants to save his life will lose it. And every person that gives his life for me will save it. It is worth nothing for a person to have the whole world, if he loses his soul. A person could never pay enough to buy back his soul." -- Matthew 16:24-26 (ERV)
Up is down. Down is up. The high cost is cheap. The cheap cost is high. First will be last. Last will be first. The least will be greatest. Jesus preached an upside down Kingdom. In many ways, his values are against "Conventional Wisdom." Instead, Jesus teaches a "Redemptional Wisdom" -- a wisdom that calls us to surrender our lives to the will of God, live for him, and serve others. It is in giving up our lives for something and Someone greater that we truly find life.
There are so many things we can invest our lives in that ultimately become our masters. The harder we work to attain them, the more we find we have lost that vital essence of living that is God's gift to us. The radical example and call of Jesus is to follow him in laying down our lives to honor God and redeem others -- there are no short-cuts.
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