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37 “Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38 Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39 Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it. (Matthew 10:37-39)

For those who grew up being told that they aren’t good enough, this can be a difficult passage to take in.  That desire or thought that we need to try harder often kicks in.  If only I try harder… If only I do this instead of that…. If only…

But Jesus’ whole point in today’s passage is to get us to stop trying harder, because no matter how hard we try, it will not be good enough. If we try to love our parents less and Christ more, it will not be enough. If we try to love our children less and love Jesus more, it won’t be good enough. Even if we try to take up our cross and try to follow Jesus, it will not be good enough.  If we try to find our lives, it will not be good enough. The only alternative is to lose our lives to Jesus, to give our lives over to Him completely.  If we cling to parts of our lives and only give the leftovers to Jesus, that is not enough. We need to lose our lives to Him completely, give everything over to Him and trust that Jesus truly wants what is best for us.

It has been a difficult start to 2020. But maybe that is a good thing, because so many of the things that we have clung to, so many of the things that we have clung to for security instead of turning to Jesus have been stripped away from us. Money has been stripped away from us. Savings have been stripped away from us as many have lost jobs and their savings during this pandemic and economic downturn. The praises of people have been stripped away as we’ve been forced to physically distance ourselves from one another. Goals that we have set for ourselves have been stripped away as life has changed drastically from what we have known and worked so hard for.

All the things that this world has considered important have been stripped away and crushed by a virus that we cannot even see with human eyes. So, what are you still clinging on to? Why do you keep trying on your own? What’s left to keep you from losing your life and giving everything over to Jesus? When everything else is gone and has been stripped away, the only one who remains is the one who gave up everything to die for us and was resurrected and now sits at the right hand of the Father. In light of all that is going on around us, and the way that life as we know it is changing, now is as good a time to cling to the One who is the beginning and the end, the Alpha and the Omega, to cling to Jesus and lose your life to Him completely.

Take time to reflect on the things that you have clung to in this life instead of clinging to Jesus. Reflect on the ways that you have tried to be a “better” Christian. And lift all of them up to Jesus in prayer and lay them before Christ. And if you are ready to lose your life completely to Jesus, take the time now to give your life fully to Him. And once you do, share the commitment you’ve made with someone you trust and ask them to help keep you accountable.