2 things

Matthew 16

24 Then Jesus said to his disciples,

"If any of you wants to be my follower,

you must turn from your selfish ways,

give up your selfish ambitions,

take up your cross,

and follow me.

25 If you try to hang on to your life & try to keep your life for yourself,

you will lose it.

But if you give up your life for me,

you will find it.

26 And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul?

Is anything worth more than your soul?

27 For the Son of Man will come with his angels in the glory of his Father

and will judge all people according to their deeds.

2 things here...

If we hold on to our life as we, in our sinful state, conceive how it to should be, it ain't gonna happen.

If we let go of our preconceived ideas of what our life should be,

& give God control over our lives & its outcome,

then this releases God plan for our lives to take shape in our lives...

…plans God dreamed up a gajillion years before we were ever born.

And the other thing is that line in verse 26...

what do we gain if the gain all the world says we should gain during our lives

or what we've figured out is the ultimate life,

what if we get all of that kind of stuff,

while at the same time, thoroughly neglect connecting with God?

iow, how stupid is it to put the source of our security in things that have short term benefits

& miss the one thing in life that ensures our eternal existence – a connection with God?

I always think about that verse 26 whenever someone dies who is the focus of our media culture,

or if someone achieves great success but in the final analysis leaves you wondering what their real priorities are & is a connection to God thru Jesus one of those priorities

.

Like who?

Justice Scalia

B B King

Peyton Manning

David Bowie

Cam Newton

Bobbi Kristina Brown

Taylor Swift

Donald Trump

Lady Gaga

Kanye West

I just wonder what those on that list who have died would tell us, if they could, about what's REALLY important in life.

And I also wonder what those who are still alive on that list would tell us about their lives & what they REALLY think about them.

Think about those 2 things today...