Jesus Goes First
Monday’s Verse:
From Matthew 16:25 ESV
(Jesus said) “For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.”
Our Gospel reading this weekend included our verse of the day. Jesus’ words sound backward to us. We spend much of life trying to preserve ourselves: our comfort, reputation, security, plans, and sense of control. Yet Jesus says that a life spent clutching these things will finally be lost.
He is not calling Christians to despise the life God has given. Nor is he asking us to earn salvation by suffering or sacrifice. The verse comes after Jesus speaks of his own cross. He goes first. He gives himself for sinners—not because we were worthy, but because his mercy is greater than our sin.
To “lose” one’s life for Christ is therefore to let go of the illusion that we belong to ourselves. It is to surrender our attempts at self-salvation. It is to confess, “My life is not secured by my success, my virtue, my possessions, or other people’s approval. My life is hidden in Christ.”
The old self resists this. We want a Savior who will improve our plans without interrupting them. But Jesus gives something better: Himself. In Baptism, the old sinner is drowned, and a new person is raised. Day by day, faith receives the life that cannot be taken away—the life Christ won through his death and resurrection.
The paradox is this: when we stop trying to save ourselves, we discover that Christ already has.
✝️ A Prayer for Today:
Lord Jesus Christ, loosen my grip on the things I cannot keep. Deliver me from trying to save myself, and teach me to trust the life you have given through your cross and resurrection. Help me to follow you in faith, to serve my neighbor freely, and to rest in your promise.Amen.
Apostles’ Creed:
I believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth.
And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried. He descended into hell. The third day He rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From thence He will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Christian Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer:
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven; give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen.
Luther’s Morning Prayer:
I thank You, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, Your dear Son, that You have kept me this night from all harm and danger; and I pray that You would keep me this day also from sin and every evil, that all my doings and life may please You. For into Your hands, I commend myself, my body and soul, and all things. Let Your holy angel be with me, that the evil foe may have no power over me. Amen.
The photo above was licensed through Unsplash+