Nothing to Lose

December 8, 2014

Nothing to Lose

“Praise the Lord, the God of Israel,

because he has visited and redeemed his people.”

Luke 1:68

A wise person once noted, “The Christian never loses, because he has nothing to lose.” Ponder that notion for a moment. I’m smiling as I read that statement because I remember a time when I considered myself down and out, having lost all that I once had and thought defined me. I recall muttering, “Lord, what about my reputation?” I then heard the still small voice of God, “What reputation would that be, son?” Of course! If I truly believed, “For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God,” I had no reputation to lose (Colossians 3:3).

The life in Christ is completely counter-intuitive, especially when our expectations are fueled by our secular culture. Contrary to the popular proclamations of some, Christ was not poor so that we can be rich, he was not mocked so that we can be honored, and he was not laughed at so we can be lauded. Christmas is our celebration of God completely ignoring conventional expectations!

Nathanael spoke for all of Israel when he rhetorically asked, “Can anything good come from that place?” (Nazareth) That the Savior of Israel was born into rags in a cave was beyond the comprehension of the Pharisees and scribes. Maybe the simple-minded shepherds could be deceived, but not so for those well-versed in the law. Do you see the principle the religious people applied to the birth of Christ? It is the same principle that causes so many to stumble today: Jesus we will follow you as long as you meet our expectations. The trouble with living by our own expectations is that we have everything to lose and not much to gain.

Only a handful of folks came to celebrate our Savior’s birth. Years later, after many thousands of people had been taught, healed, fed and blessed by Jesus, only a handful showed up for his execution and burial. So it goes when you spend your life ignoring conventional expectations. Even so, I want to be counted among the handful known as the fully-devoted followers of the counter-intuitive Messiah.

Sē’lah

<><  <><  <><  <><

(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription.

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

·        Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

·        The second edition of  First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

·        Meditations on The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ has been released as an e-book on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188.