11月11日

標　　題： 喪失自己的性命

經　　節： 因為，凡要救自己生命的，必喪掉生命；凡為我喪掉生命的，必得著生命。（馬太福音十六章25節）

基督徒被命令要喪失自己的性命。這代表他們要慎重地將自己的生命，交給神與神的國度。攔阻你服事神的最大阻礙之一，是你對自己的「合法權利」之看法。這是指那些你自覺有權享受或擁有的權利。對於你不在意的事物，要交出主權給神並不難，因為對你而言，失去那些不算犧牲，是否擁有它們根本無所謂。難的是把自己心愛的東西交出去，這些東西會擋住你順服神的旨意。

舉例而言，住在子女身邊很好，但神卻要你去另一個城市，或另一洲宣教。能夠睡飽固然好，但也許三更半夜來了一通電話，有人在傷痛中需要安慰。你可能自以為有權擁有某些物質，然而，神可能要你為了祂的事工，把所有財產全交出去（馬太福音十九：21）。

耶穌在這方面完美地作了生命的榜樣。祂有權利在天堂享受尊榮，但祂沒有視之為應享的權利，也沒有認為放棄的代價太大、犧牲太重（腓立比書二：5∼11）。結果，神高舉祂，並把救恩賜給這破敗的世界。

這世界是否說服你要保護某種權利？你是否試著想拯救自己的生命？你是否注意到，如果你真的如此行，你將失去神要你擁有的生命？

Losing Your Life

For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. (Matthew 16:25)

Christians are commanded to lose their lives. This means they ought to deliberately release their lives to God and His kingdom. One of the greatest hindrances to you being on mission with God will be your view of what constitutes your “legitimate rights”; that is, those things that you feel you have a right to experience and enjoy. It’s not difficult to turn over to Christ those things that are not a sacrifice or that you would prefer to do without anyway. Rather, it is the things that are good and that are dear to you that may stand between you and God’s will.

It’s good to be near your grown children and grandchildren, for example, but God may want you to go to another city or continent on mission with Him. It’s good to get adequate rest, but you may receive a call of distress in the middle of the night. You may assume that you have a right to certain material things, yet God may ask you to release all of your possessions to Him and His purposes (Matt. 19:21).

Jesus modeled perfectly this attitude toward life. He had a legitimate right to enjoy the comforts of heaven. Yet, He did not look at it as a right He should hold on to, nor did He see leaving all that was His as a sacrifice too costly to make (Phil. 2:5–11). As a result, God highly exalted Him and brought salvation to a broken world. Has the world convinced you that there are certain rights that you must protect? Are you trying to save your life? Have you noticed that in so doing, you are actually losing the life God wants you to have?