October 27, 2022 - 2 Timothy 2:11
“This is a trustworthy saying: If we die with him, we will also live with him.” 2 Timothy 2:11 NLT
Lord, this is a very challenging verse, but we want to be willing to live it out. Give us a greater understanding of what you mean by, “If we die with him.” There are some people who living for you will cost them their physical life, but for most of us that will likely not be the case. It is true though to sincerely follow you, we must die to our own desires and preferences daily. We must make you the Lord of our lives and not ourselves. We must put our “self” to death each day – multiple times a day – and purposefully choose to walk in obedience to what you are asking of us. We must put aside what we want or what we feel we have a right to. We must die to our pride, our fear, our entitlement, and our greed. We must put what you think of us above what others think of us.
Lord, you understand that these are not easy choices. But you give us the strength and power to make the choice and you will help us walk it out. It is interesting how your kingdom works. It is often so opposite to how our human minds think. We have a hard time laying down our rights and fully surrendering to you because we feel like we will lose something. But it works just the opposite. In laying down our desires and rights we learn how to truly live. You develop us into the person we were created to be. You release us into the places that allow us to flourish. You know us better than we know ourselves. You know what will truly fulfill us and want to see us living in that place. We will never get to the place of true fulfillment if we choose to live in our selfish ways. Lord, this verse is also saying that we get to live with you in heaven for all eternity. What we receive is so much better than anything we must “sacrifice”!
In Jesus name, amen.
