Our lives have been saved.

Why, then, do we keep trying to save ourselves?

• thinking the work God is doing in us is too slow, or not enough, or second best
• making excuses or manipulating circumstances, or powering up on problems in our own strength
• believing rest or reward will truly heal us — that they are more than temporary answers, a blessing from God.

We know we’ve tried to save ourselves when we’re disappointed we haven’t done a better job at it.

Jesus calls this the road to disaster: For whoever wants to save their life will lose it… (luke 9:24)

You cannot be your own rescuer, He says.

You cannot even want to save your own life.

It will be lost —

Lost moment by moment in the worry we haven’t done enough, or in wasting time on a temporary kingdom of our own good deeds and motivation and intentions.

Lost eternally because we believe in ourselves more than we believe in Him.

The more lies in our heads — making us feel dead — the more truth we need to breathe life back into our bones.

And never our “own truth:” seeking more of what happens to be true about me today shows I still believe I am my own fickle savior. We need truth about the One who has done the real work — the Rescuer God who does not change.

Deny you have any power on your own, He says. Every day, take up your cross — die to believing that you can save you — and follow me. Lose your trust in your own life, and you will be saved (Luke 9:23)

Don’t ask How can I fix this? But How can I know the One who has already made it right?

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For whoever wants to save their life will lose it… When we read “save” here our minds think “protect” — that Jesus is saying we can’t want to hold on to our own life or make it safe. But this is the same word used in By grace you have been saved and The Son of Man came to save that which was lost. Jesus is telling us to walk away from thinking we have any chance to rescue our own hearts or make eternal work happen on our own. What ways are you losing your life by trying to save it today?