Jesus had the power to lay His life down and to take it up again. We can’t lay down our lives in our our strength, but we need His power. We can’t be His disciples and true followers without denying ourselves and laying our lives down. That’s the only way to follow Christ and make Him the Shepherd and guide of our life. Jesus said,
John 10:18
“No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father.”
We don’t have that power outside of a personal relationship with God and that’s why God calls the death of His Saints “precious.”
Psalm 116:15 Precious in the sight of the LORD [Is] the death of His saints.
The death of His Saints are precious because it’s a decision we make to follow Christ and lay down our lives. To lay down your life means to lay down your agenda and goals and dreams and self ambitions. I know this goes totally against motivational messages. There’s nothing wrong with having goals or dreams, but we need them to come from God and not from desires to be noticed and leave our names splattered all over the place for our legacy. Jesus’ Name is the only name that matters! To lay your life down can be the most exciting thing you’ve ever done! We should be asking God, “God, what do you want? What do You want me to do with My life?”
Holy Father, empower Your people to follow Jesus. Help us to lay our lives down. Amen!