We live in a world that’s hungry for life. Absolutely desperate. Grabbing for it whenever and wherever it’s to be found. That often happens to be in the wrong places; people look for life in all sorts of lifeless endeavors. But the desire is nevertheless true and good. We want to live life to the fullest.
How can we do that? In the kingdom culture, it isn’t by grabbing life by the tail. It’s by letting go of it. “If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News, you will save it,” Jesus said (Mark 8:35). Those who are always trying to take it in will end up empty. But those who stop looking inward and give life to others will find it in abundance.
That’s the gospel—the greatest paradox of all. We have an empty tomb as evidence. Resurrections don’t happen unless there’s a death, and we have to face it. But that’s better than trying to avoid it. Those who cling to life their entire lives never really live. Those who give up their lives—literally or figuratively—and live completely abandoned to God, find a deeper, greater, more fulfilling life than most people ever dream of—now and forever.
