Self-Survival
03/06/07 20:43
Survival
and self-preservation are intrinsic to our human
nature. As soon as we are born we begin to cry for
our survival. We cry for our comfort. We cry because
we are hungry and we even cry when we want loved.
Because self-preservation is intrinsic to our human
nature we not only grow up learning how to survive,
but we also think it to be very normal. Of course it
is –it’s human nature! Some folks learn
to survive very well in this world and when we see
these people we call them successful. They lived
their lives without much struggle and some have even
left their families great wealth –in order that
they may survive. Everyone’s perspective varies
on survival. Someone asked Tiger Woods what he
thought was important now that he had a family (his
wife is pregnant with their first child) and he
thought that he needed to make a little more money so
that his family could be financially secure. I
don’t know about you but I think I could live
on just ten percent of his annual income! No matter
how you look at it we all have that need to survive.
But let me show you that survival is only human and
not divine. And as Christians we ought to be living
above our human nature.
Suppose a man is walking in a desert and becomes very thirsty. He comes upon a little water, just enough to survive his trip out of the desert. If he refused to drink it and then died of thirst, we would consider him a fool. Yet, if that same man refused to drink it because he knew that someone was coming right behind him and would need the drink as much as he did, left the water for that person instead of drinking it for his own survival, and died of thirst, we would hail him as a hero. You see, drinking the water for survival is normal, but sacrificing yourself for another is divine. This is the meaning behind the words of Jesus when He said that if we tried to save our lives, in the end we would die. But if we lost our lives [for Him] then we would survive. No matter how you look at survival everyone is going to the grave. You could be the richest person who has ever lived or you could be as poor as a church mouse, but you are still going to the grave. The question remains though; will you survive the grave?
Suppose a man is walking in a desert and becomes very thirsty. He comes upon a little water, just enough to survive his trip out of the desert. If he refused to drink it and then died of thirst, we would consider him a fool. Yet, if that same man refused to drink it because he knew that someone was coming right behind him and would need the drink as much as he did, left the water for that person instead of drinking it for his own survival, and died of thirst, we would hail him as a hero. You see, drinking the water for survival is normal, but sacrificing yourself for another is divine. This is the meaning behind the words of Jesus when He said that if we tried to save our lives, in the end we would die. But if we lost our lives [for Him] then we would survive. No matter how you look at survival everyone is going to the grave. You could be the richest person who has ever lived or you could be as poor as a church mouse, but you are still going to the grave. The question remains though; will you survive the grave?
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