Lose something

Recently my eldest daughter, Cady, lost a tooth. I don't know if you remember losing a tooth but it is a really exciting thing for a child. You may be thinking, "Of course it is exciting, because of the whole tooth fairy thing." but around here we don't do the tooth fairy. Even though, there was no promise of a philanthropic mystical being to sneak in and share her wealth while my daughter was sleeping, she still had great excitement about losing her tooth. She was actually losing a bone in her body and she was excited. Aside from children being excited about losing a tooth, I assume that the only other person excited about losing a bone from his body was Adam. You know that when you turn in a "rib" and get an "Eve", that's not a bad deal. It seems that Cady is just excited to be on the dental journey that requires the gain and loss of teeth. There seems to be this wonder in the loosening of the tooth, curiosity of when it will being fully gone and then the anticipation of a new tooth to come. It is absolutely exhilarating to her.

Jesus invites/demands (Matt 10:37-39) that we lose our lives if we are to follow him. Yes, I realize that what I gain is far more valuable than what I lose, but sometimes my attitude about losing my life is not so rosy. What I would like is to have excitement about losing my life because it is part of the greater adventure of following Christ. I would like to have excitement about where following him will lead me next, curiosity of when I will fully lose this life and an anticipation of the life that I now have in him and the one that is coming. Hopefully, I will live in the the excitement of losing this life.

Walk with God til you are no more.

Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him away. Gen. 5:24

What a phrase “…(he) walked with God, then he was no more…” I have thought about this quite a bit lately and have been a bit envious of good ole Enoch. Who gets to cheat death and go to God? That is way cool. The only way I know to potentially top that is hitch a ride on a flaming chariot one your way out and Elijah already pulled that one. But I think there may be a way for all of us to experience walking with God, and being no more. When we are called to follow Jesus, we are called to be no more. Jesus says, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it.” If we walk with Jesus, it is a requirement to become no more and then God will take us away to real life. True life. Abundant life. I don’t know exactly what the circumstances of Enoch’s life was when God took him but I believe the principle this remains. If we walk with God, we will be no more because God will take us (our life as we know it) away. That is a trip I surely want to take.