Die - John 11:25

Continuation of series looking at the different words in John 11:25

Have you died today? If not today, when was the last time you died?

This was the question I posed to the church toward the beginning of the sermon yesterday as we examined death/die/dying.

It is easy to be selfish. You want something and you would like to get it. I think it is our nature. You can see it in kids, when they are told "no", they may get upset - or even worse. They desired permission to have something or go somewhere and they were denied. Our weak bodies generally lack the maturity to understand why we may not get something - even spilling over into adulthood.

Though we're growing all the time, one of the goals of a Christian is to die to self for the goodness of Him, the Kingdom, and others. When we don't "die" we may be holding on to something that doesn't allow us to flourish.

As we continue on with this concept, here are some applications to choose from this week...

1. Give this day to God...all the problems, all the appointments, all the errands, all the phone calls, all the encounters, all the conversations, all the meetings...Everything you do today, consciously think about doing it to the glory of God.
2. When something "dies" we miss them/it, but logically we cannot hang on to them/it, besides in memory. As you "die" daily, you may miss things about the past, but it is better to move on...so do just that.
3. Be a living sacrifice (Romans 12:1) and die to the concepts incorporated with serving Him that are difficult for you.
4. Look forward to next week when we talk about the joy of living!

Think about if Jesus didn't die to self, before He died on the Cross. He displayed humanity when He was asking God to "take the cup" from Him. I have to presume He'd seen crucifixions. He'd seen the pain, embarrassment, and agony that was associated with death by crucifixion. He didn't want to go through it. However, He died to self for the sake of you and me and went through with it.

Are there things you need to die to, for the sake of someone else? Maybe your family, your community, or your church? Maybe there's something that you are holding on to that is keeping a restrain on others? If you "died" to that, the future would be better, just like the future was better when Jesus died. Think about it.

Dying, while living, is not easy, but it is what is expected of us.

Dying, Regularly... (or at least trying)...