11月11日
标 题： 丧失自己的性命
经 节： 因为，凡要救自己生命的，必丧掉生命；凡为我丧掉生命的，必得着生命。（马太福音十六章25节）
基督徒被命令要丧失自己的性命。这代表他们要慎重地将自己的生命，交给神与神的国度。拦阻你服事神的最大阻碍之一，是你对自己的“合法权利”之看法。这是指那些你自觉有权享受或拥有的权利。对于你不在意的事物，要交出主权给神并不难，因为对你而言，失去那些不算牺牲，是否拥有它们根本无所谓。难的是把自己心爱的东西交出去，这些东西会挡住你顺服神的旨意。
举例而言，住在子女身边很好，但神却要你去另一个城市，或另一洲宣教。能够睡饱固然好，但也许三更半夜来了一通电话，有人在伤痛中需要安慰。你可能自以为有权拥有某些物质，然而，神可能要你为了祂的事工，把所有财产全交出去（马太福音十九：21）。
耶稣在这方面完美地作了生命的榜样。祂有权利在天堂享受尊荣，但祂没有视之为应享的权利，也没有认为放弃的代价太大、牺牲太重（腓立比书二：5～11）。结果，神高举祂，并把救恩赐给这破败的世界。
这世界是否说服你要保护某种权利？你是否试着想拯救自己的生命？你是否注意到，如果你真的如此行，你将失去神要你拥有的生命？
Losing Your Life
For whoever
desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake
will find it. (Matthew 16:25)
Christians are commanded to lose their lives. This means they ought to
deliberately release their lives to God and His kingdom. One of the greatest
hindrances to you being on mission with God will be your view of what
constitutes your “legitimate rights”; that is, those things that you feel you
have a right to experience and enjoy. It’s not difficult to turn over to Christ
those things that are not a sacrifice or that you would prefer to do without
anyway. Rather, it is the things that are good and that are dear to you that
may stand between you and God’s will.
It’s good to be near your grown children and grandchildren, for example,
but God may want you to go to another city or continent on mission with Him.
It’s good to get adequate rest, but you may receive a call of distress in the
middle of the night. You may assume that you have a right to certain material
things, yet God may ask you to release all of your possessions to Him and His
purposes (Matt. 19:21).
Jesus modeled perfectly this attitude toward life. He had a legitimate
right to enjoy the comforts of heaven. Yet, He did not look at it as a right He
should hold on to, nor did He see leaving all that was His as a sacrifice too
costly to make (Phil. 2:5–11). As a result, God highly exalted Him and brought
salvation to a broken world. Has the world convinced you that there are certain
rights that you must protect? Are you trying to save your life? Have you
noticed that in so doing, you are actually losing the life God wants you to
have?
