The Gain of Loss

As I was driving between patients yesterday, I listened to Dave Ramsey tell the story of a man he knew that had buried $300,000 in his back yard for years.  When he finally dug the money up, he still had the $300,000 he put in the ground but, due to inflation, it wasn't worth what it was when he originally put it there.  Worse yet, adding to the cost of keeping hold of his money so tightly, he missed out on the opportunity of market growth during that particular time that could have netted him nearly $3,000,000.

If he would have been willing to accept the loss of personal, direct control of his money, he would have gained the multiplying effect of compound interest instead of losing to the discounting effect of inflation.  The gain of his loss would have been staggering.

This is precisely what Paul was talking about when he wrote, "But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ" (Phil 3:7-8).

If he had decided to maintain personal control of his life, following the dreams of his early years, he would never have become an apostle, never have written the lion's share of the New Testament, never have joined Christ in glory at his death.  But by losing the personal control, giving it over to Christ, he gained more than we can even begin to imagine.

In the words of Jesus, "For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it" (Mk 8:35).  What about you?  Will you lose out on true life by holding on to the life you have carved out for yourself or will you gain true life by giving that life over to Christ?  The choice is yours, gain or loss.  What's your choice?  Jus' Ask'n.