Peter asked, “Lord, why can’t I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.” Then Jesus answered, “Will you really lay down your life for me? Very truly I tell you, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times! John 13:37-38 NIV
Peter boldly proclaimed to Jesus that he would lay down his life for Him and just a few hours later, he drew his sword to defend his Lord upon His arrest. I can imagine the confusion that flooded Peter’s mind when Jesus sternly told Peter to put his sword away and reached out and healed the man Peter had struck. Yes, it appears that Peter was willing to lay his life down, pick up his sword and battle alongside his Lord. But that’s not the surrendered life Jesus was looking for. Peter was willing to die for Jesus that night, but was he willing to live for him? Was he willing to live the life that Jesus had chosen for Peter? Was he willing to lay down his preconceived ideas of what his life should look like and accept whatever plan God had for him?
“Will you really lay down your life for me?” That’s the question each one of us has to answer. Not will you die for me, but will you live for me, following me in obedience every step of the way. We all have a picture in our minds of what our lives should look like as we follow the Lord, and usually we are more than happy to embrace the life we envision. But what if we’re wrong, what if the life God has planned for us looks radically different?
Let me give you an example. The Christian wife envisions her and her husband passionately serving God together. She imagines them gathering after dinner each night studying the Bible, praying together, encouraging each other in godliness, and serving in the church hand in hand. Her picture matches the way God designed the marriage relationship to be, so she concludes that must be the will of God for her life, and she eagerly submits to it! But what if her husband is spiritually lethargic, has no interest in growing in the Lord together, and complains all the way to church on Sunday? Will she lay down her life, her preconceived idea of what her marriage should be like and follow the Lord in obedience to 1 Corinthians 7:13, “And if a woman has a husband who is not a believer and he is willing to live with her, she must not divorce him.“ Will she continue to surrender her life to God even when she meets a man who possesses all the spiritual qualities her husband lacks, and he begins to show interest in her? Or will she imagine what life would be like married to him and justify pursuing the relationship by convincing herself that she has God’s blessing. After all, she rationalizes, it must please God that I want to honor Him by having the kind of marriage He approves of and I just can’t have that with my current spouse.
I believe it’s often easier to die for Jesus than to live for Him. Here’s another example. A Christian man struggles with addictions. He loves the Lord and desires to please Him with all his heart. The addiction started long before He was introduced to Christ, and it’s something he may have to wrestle with the rest of his life. “Lord, I lay my life down for you, I’ll go where ever you send me and do what ever you call me to do. Please help me overcome this addiction,” he sincerely prays. He’s anxious to get past this as he imagines all the ways the Lord could use him. Yet the addiction derails him again and again. He struggles to understand why the Lord hasn’t healed him when he’s surrendered his life and committed to serve God. What if God’s plan is not to instantly remove the addiction so he can move forward and minister to others, but rather to stay beside him and strengthen his faith as he journeys through rehab?
If you cling to your life, you will lose it; but if you give up your life for me, you will find it. Matthew 10:39 NLT
In very plain language, Jesus is telling us that we need to give Him control of our lives. It all starts with obeying His word. God’s will for your life will never require you to disobey the principles given in the Bible. Quite often it’s our own plans, cleverly rationalized by select Bible verses, that we hold onto and refuse to lay down for Jesus. Are you willing to give up your life, your dreams, your hopes and let God determine the outcome? You will find your life when you give up control and lay it down at His feet.
“Will you really lay down your life for me?”