When Christ calls a man, He bids him come and die.
“To live is Christ; to die is gain.”
Fleeing from death is the shortest path to a wasted life.
–John Piper
For most of us, fleeing from death is a choice we make due to fear – the fear of dying. Self-preservation is one of our strongest instincts. And so, out of fear of death, we do all we can to preserve our lives. And yet, Jesus calls us to die – to die to self. But to do so requires us to fight every human urge and instinct within us. It is only when we are willing to die to ourselves – die to our goals, our plans, our dreams, our desires – and give all of them over to God that we will experience true life.
Jesus promises us abundant life, but the requirement to obtain it is to die to self and let Christ be the One who controls your every thoughts, every word, every attitude, every action. For most of the people in this world, we will be unwilling to follow Him that far… and that will result in us wasting our lives.
Don’t waste your life. Embrace self-death. Let Jesus take full control. You won’t be disappointed.