Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it.

Luke 17:33 KJV

He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.

Matthew 10:39 KJV

Perhaps one of the most enigmatic phrases to the carnal observer would be this one, largely because it is so simple.  He has hidden things from the wise and prudent, and revealed them to babes.  Instinctive to nearly every human being who has not been otherwise affected is the basic drive for self-survival, self-preservation.  It is at a core part of their being.  In a human realm, such as in gangs and the mafia, only a greater fear than death itself is capable of overcoming such an innate, core part of our human nature.  We fear death, and losing our self, and yet, this is at the core of not only the Gospel, yet of love itself.  To love is to lose yourself, and yet retain it.

This verse is perplexing only in a natural sense, however, to mind of man, and not to God.  Many have of course tried to fulfill this in their flesh, only to fail again and again, and some have set up whole camps for doctrines of thought around the whole idea that we should simply not try and just “let God”.  While this may sound wonderfully and spiritual, the plain fact remains that we were given instruction for a reason, if we could just know how to apply it!

The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid again; and from joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

Matthew 13:44

Much of the teaching on the Kingdom is quite simple, and quite straight-forward, if you really want to pursue it.  It costs you everything, you must be stripped of yourself, and you must die, plain and simple.  The quicker you hate your life (Luke 14:26), the better off you’ll be, because, basically, the only part of you that has any good thing is the part God put there!  (Romans 7:18).

But, suppose we lived out in the realm of faith for a moment, where our innermost being encountered something we couldn’t explain.  Our natural mind might not understand it all the time, but certainly, we would be driven to touch the center of all love, hope, life, truth, and light that God is and offers in Jesus Christ.  Now, suppose for a little more, that this life was better than anything else in this life and spiritual dimension ever could be.  This is what the Gospel is.

Suppose further, that we could see for a moment, and then for increasing moments, that this spiritual life was worth “selling all” for, and that any amount of this life far surpassed in value everything that this natural life could.  Suppose that this was easy to see as the day, and suppose you understood by looking at it that it was nothing or all.  You could not keep the former and have the later, you could not have any of the higher if you clung to any part of the lower.  Again, this is what Our Gospel is.

The eyes of faith see a thing, and possesses it entirely, even if it is only in a spiritual substance first (Hebrews 11:1).  It possesses the substance of the thing hoped for.

But, suppose that through the eyes of faith, you could see this thing that Jesus talked about.  We know it is true because of His word, and we accept it as true on the basis of faith in believing in Him, but feel for a moment what it would be like to know that this life of the Spirit is the most real thing, and feel how temporary that earthly existence is.  Experience the shift in perspective as the carnal and mundane, while created by God for a purpose, is but a temporary shadow of what we call the invisible and ethereal realm of the Kingdom in the Holy Spirit…

What a joy it will be when our faith will be fully sight.  Until then, we set our hearts and minds on things above (Colossians 3:1-3).  But, we can imagine, or consider, what that realm  of heaven is like, what that existence is like.  Yet When the heavenly life is perceived as more real than the old, mundane, earthly thing, it is no difficult thing nor strain upon the soul, to abandon earthly gain, praise of men, and even fear of preserving an earthly life that is set to end in a few short years anyway.  There is simply no profit.

This place of living, living from heaven down, is coming upon the church in mass droves.  Whole cities will get a glimpse of the reality of Eternity, and chose to lose their lives.  The un-churched will attempt to lose their lives in the mean time through physical death, through drugs, alcohol, suicide, and terrible things, while those who can see the Gospel will step out of their own self will, and do the only sensible thing: lay down their life visible for their Life Seen.

However, as it is written:  No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him— but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit.  The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man’s spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words.

1 Corinthians 2:9-13

We must be prepared to speak to a generation, speak to a people, running head-long into slaughter, who may just as well want to take us with them.  Only a glimpse of the Eternal will make us ready for this.  When we see it, there is no keeping a grip on our old life.  If we try to hold onto it then, for sure we will die, for as Peter began to doubt while walking on water for fear of death and it nearly brought the very thing he feared, we must fix our eyes steadfastly on that day, cast our lot into the lot of the Carpenter, and say, “If I perish, I perish.  I was born for such a time as this.”

Though the world may not recognize it, all of Heaven will see, and great will be your reward in Him.

The heavnely life seen overcomes the fear of the loss of the passing shadow of the earthly.  When this life is more real than that old one there is no fear in letting go.

Certainly, we will not taste of death on that day.  He is waiting, but, there is coming the season where the realm of the Eteranl will be so apparent that it will seem a natural thing to lose our lives for His.

When that day comes, Gospel power will be upon us in full swing.