All In Daily Devotional March 30 We Find Our Lives When We Lose Them for Christ’s Sake

First Redeemer

We Find Our Lives When We Lose Them for Christ’s Sake

“Summoning the crowd along with His disciples, He said to them, ‘If anyone wants to be My follower, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of Me and the gospel will save it.’”

Mark 8:34-35

Surrender is the highest battle worth conceding, and the pursuit is extraordinarily worth it. All the difficulty in letting go yields a harvest only He can deliver. We find our lives when we lose them, for Jesus’ sake.  

Oh, how we must stop and remember.  

Surrendering is never easy for our sticky hands. We are too comfortable in our surroundings, too easily distracted with packed lives that leave no margin. We miss opportunities because we do not even see them coming. We cannot entertain half-heartedness. We cannot afford to look up and catch ourselves chasing the gifts more than the giver or the miracle more than the message. 

This is a battle that must be intentional. 

Surrender squeezes from our hearts what does not belong, and the irony is rich. The more we let go, the more we gain. We find ourselves wanting what He wants and loving what He loves. With just a taste, His increase becomes our craving.  

Freedom in surrender is worth it every time.  

All else is loss. Side by side, we are heading home with our feet stepping toward our Savior. Ours is the joy to run with open hands and bare hearts, trusting that every bit of letting go will deliver for us eternal glory piled and waiting at His feet.  

The truth is that many have abandoned far more than we ever will. We may never be asked to leave behind houses or forsake family for the gospel. Still, our hearts must rank all these things least in light of Jesus.  

Would you, with me, have the courage to run hard toward the One who pursued us first? 

Have you, with me, decided there will be no looking back and to focus on what is ahead?  

He is where we belong. In Him, we are home.  

He must increase. We must decrease.

He is our greatest hallelujah. 

The best is yet to come.  

We’re All In.  

o Thank You, God, for Your great example of surrender in Jesus. 

o Forgive us for holding too tightly to the momentary and the things we can see. 

o Help us open our hands, yield our hearts, and give You first place in surrender.  

o Help us not to waver and be all in for the sake of Your kingdom and Your gospel. 

o Give us the opportunity to follow You in surrender, so our community and world will know that any other pursuit profits nothing. 

o Allow us to be Your vessels as we let go of all that is behind and press toward what is to come.