On the Dusty Road

In the Bible study I am a part of based on John Piper's book Don't Waste Your Life, we talked about something last night that has crossed my mind many times the past year. Tonight, in the floor Bible study I lead we are tackling 1 Corinthians 1...also relating to what's been on my mind lately.

The issues of suffering and pain for Jesus has been coming up lately in my mind. We are called by Jesus himself to pick up our crosses and follow him. What does it mean to suffer for Christ, to die for him?? In order to live a life that is completely sold out for Christ do we need to say goodbye to comforts, safety, and pleasure? Is it possible to not waste your life if you don't do something radical for Jesus? I do not think that this is necessarily the case. There are people in our world who do lose their lives in the name of Jesus. That's a fact. However, I do not believe that every Christian who is a sold-out believer in the power of Jesus is destined to die a martyr's death. I know plenty of people who lived unwasted lives who did not die a martyr's death.

I look at my grandmother first of all. She passed away from complications from diabetes almost nine years ago already. A disease killed her, not a sword or other forms of persecution, but did she live a wasted life?? I find it hard to believe that she lived a wasted moment, let alone a wasted life. From growing up in hard times, to raising 5 God-fearing children, including my mom, to constantly showing Christ's love to us grandkids, this woman lived for Jesus and did not waste her life.

So we've established that one does not need to die a martyr's death to live an unwasted life. What was it that made my grandma and people like her not to live a wasted life. The answer I believe lies in the idea of daily dying to self. Perhaps this is somewhat of what Christ is saying when he says to pick up our crosses. This doesn't involve a literal picking up of a cross, it involves saying no to our selfish desires and putting God's first. It involves putting the cross of Christ at the center of our life...daily taking a trip down the dusty road of Calvary where we put our sins, our desires of the flesh at the foot of the cross. It is when we do this, we consciously put to death our own selfish desires that we really live. When Christ becomes the center of our life we are able to live lives that will bring him Glory!

May we never forget the power of Jesus Christ and what he accomplished on that dusty road to Calvary and then on the cross itself. Moreso, let us not forget what he accomplished by his resurrection and conquering of death. May all of our lives be living examples of what this means to us and bring glory to Him!