Is the Lord breathing His life into my life’s work? What am I doing that comes from His grace, His life within me? Jesus said, ‘Whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it’.
When I am trying to build up my life, I am effectively trying to save my life; I am trying to put my mark on the world. I want to leave something behind for posterity; I want people to look at this thing and know that it was me who put it there. When this is my motive then I am investing in myself. With this motivation what I build will end up with the whiff of death about it. When things go too far, Jesus in His grace will step in and burn up what I have devoted so much attention to, for it has become death and not life.
When I surrender all and walk with Jesus, investing in the things He points me to, then though I don’t see any great value in them at the time, they will ultimately bear the fruit of spiritual life. I might not see it, but others will be nurtured by it, and gain life through it. When I meet Jesus in heaven, we will review this aspect of life and reflect on how foolish I was to doubt Him. How foolish the struggle I had ,to let go of all the cheep glitter that I was so determined needed investment. If only I had done so earlier and with all my heart and soul, then I would have been free to invest in what was of real value.
Who is going to receive the glory? Who am I really living my life for?