Garry spoke tonight about something which is valuable but expendable: something that is disposable, which we can get rid of or abandon or allow to be destroyed…but which God counts as precious and which can actually be gained only by losing it…
The value that we place on something differs according to our understanding, opinions and values. Different people value different things, and values change over time or when circumstnaces change. Ultimately, our most precious ‘possession’ is life itself, given to us by God.
Luke 9:23-25 reminds us that following Jesus requires us to willingly surrender our lives to Him: to deny ourselves, take up our cross daily and follow Him. This means living life with our attention firmly given to the things He values. Many people make up a ‘bucket list’ for themselves, thinking of all the things they want to do in life to make their lives fulfilled and meaningful. Life is a gift that has to be spent, and we need to consider how to spend this gift wisely.
Our time is irreplaceable and we have the choice of giving God our time, often in ways that may seem so small as to be insignificant (getting up earlier to pray, breaking a busy schedule to spend time with God’s people, giving time to listen to that person whom no one else seems to care about.) Nonetheless, like Paul, ‘for me to live Christ and to die is gain’ (Phil 1:21), which gives new purpose and direction to our lives. We are compelled not by duty or fear but by love (2 Cor 5:14-15), and come to realise that our lives are expendable in many respects, but that we receive so much more from God than we ever give Him. (Luke 18:28-29) As Tim Hughes says, ‘beyond the horizon, I see there is so much more’ (‘Pocketful Of Faith’), but the choice is ours: will we treat our most valuable possession, life, as expendable for God?
