Matthew 10
37 “Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; 38 and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39 Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”
Here we are, still on the other side of the world. The verse above dealt the death blow to any doubts we had about moving away from our comfortable world in the U.S. “Whoever finds his life will lose it”, “Whoever finds his life will lose it”, “Whoever finds his life will lose it”…
Ajabholi (nowadays in the local language) I sometimes have second thoughts. I think maybe we should just go back. Move back into our still unrented house, and get back to “life”… When I think of it on the surface it is very appealing. We had quite a comfortable niche there in the woods. So peaceful, quiet, pretty… As I ponder the possibility I think of the past. The years we spent there. It was peaceful, quiet, and pretty… It was nice to have such a fun and entertainment rich schedule. To do the things we wanted … Then I realize, that is what we left. The years we spent there were virtually fruitless. Week after week I’d ponder and pray about how I can participate with Jesus. All of the niceness of my life was very clearly leading nowhere. I was “losing my life” by “finding it.”
Here on the other side of the world I’m already realizing that “the pursuit of happiness” can stand in the way of “the pursuit of God” just the same as in America. Day-after-day (din din) we engage the culture and learn a bit more, we work hard, juggle our schedules, and still maybe miss the point. Which point? The meaning of life.
This is the meaning of life. To know Jesus and make Him known. Nothing is more important. It’s easy to put one thing in front of the other and call it good. As long as Jesus is the most important thing, the close second can be anything I choose right? Probably not. I daily put things in front of Jesus. Even my own work. If I rationalize it I can sure feel good about it. Of course Jesus wants me doing these things… I can even convince myself that I haven’t put anything in front of Him. Doesn’t change the fact that I have. Even family can’t be in front of Him.
Do we want to move back to America? Nope. “Life, Liberty And The Pursuit Of Happiness” stands in direct contradiction to Matthew 10:37-39. Not just in word either. From the other side of the world I can see pretty clearly that the “American dream” wasn’t really all it is cut out to be. We could have easily spent our entire lives going to sleep and waking up just to do another day like the one before. With just a taste, I realize we are finding life more than before. We still miss the mark, but it is true, by doing what seems like a loss we are finding life here on the other side of the world.
Today is American independence day. Are we ungrateful for the gift of freedom and abundance we have because of those who came before us? NO WAY. I suppose we just think maybe the gift has a purpose. God bless, blessed, and blesses America. There is a purpose.