Bible Text: Luke 9:23-27 | Preacher: G.F.

Jesus said in order to save your life, you must lose your life. That is, you must give your life to Jesus so that He can save your life. Jim Elliot understood this call to discipleship when he made his famous statement, “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose”. Elliot later prayed this prayer: “Father, take my life, yea, my blood if Thou wilt, and consume it with Thine enveloping fire. I would not save it, for it is not mine to save. Have it, Lord, have it all. Pour out my life as an oblation for the world.” God answered Jim Elliot’s prayer. His lifeblood was poured out as an oblation, but he was no fool, because in losing his life for Jesus, he gained something he could never lose: the everlasting pleasure of God.

Bishop J. C. Ryle once said: “The loss of the soul is the heaviest loss that can befall a man. The worst and most painful of diseases – the most distressing bankruptcy of fortune – the most disastrous shipwrecks – are a mere scratch of a pin compared to the loss of a soul. All other losses are bearable, or but for a short time, but the loss of the soul is for evermore. It is to lose God, and Christ, and heaven, and glory, and happiness, to all eternity. It is to be cast away forever, helpless and hopeless in hell!”.