Small Steps in Discipleship to Jesus: Living Life, the Outcome of God's Love

With your life.  When I trust someone with my life, I might say, "My life is in your hands."  I might say this to a doctor or an airplane pilot.  For some time, they have a lot of say about my life continuing or not.  I am frightened when I find out they might not be trustworthy.  When my life does not matter much to them, I am worried.

Certainly my trust of Jesus extends at least this far.  I believe in him, so that I "would not perish, but have eternal life."  I trust that he will care about my life.  The truth is that Jesus cares a good deal more about my life than I do.

I am notoriously self-destructive, like all other people.  I tend to care a whole lot more about what I want than how I live.  Perhaps I am "health-conscious" and watch over my body.  Well and good.  Do I watch over my soul?  More often than not, my soul is left to "fend for itself" and I hope that it will be okay.

Eternal life has to do more with my soul than my body.  It is not that I do not include my body as I trust Jesus with my life, but I realize that this is not enough.  If I watch over my soul, my body will receive the care it needs.  If I merely watch over my body, my soul will wither, since it includes so much more.  My soul interacts with my mind and my heart (spirit) as well.  My soul is my life on its most basic, inclusive level.

In a less abstract way of thinking, eternal life is about living my whole life.  I trust Jesus with my life as I might trust a doctor.  I also trust him with my life as I might say to my wife, "I will love you with my life."  Now my life is not only the object that I entrust to Jesus, but also the agency with which I trust Jesus.  I trust him with my life like I might hit a ball with a bat.  I find that Jesus came as more than an insurance salesman, but a teacher and counselor who would instruct me on how life is best lived.  Life as it is best lived is eternal life.

The fact that this life with Jesus does not end is wonderful, but not without this life also being wonderful in itself. Eternal life begins today and stretches into eternity.  There is no use waiting for it.  It grows (as life does), but is not merely is a "savings account" for later.  Jesus explains this clearly in John 17:3: "Now this is eternal life: that they might know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent."  Knowing Jesus and living with him is what it means to trust him with my life.

Eternal life is a life lived for love, God's love.  This is the most fundamental reality about life.  Each thing that exists owes its presence and reality to God's love and generosity.  Eternal life is a life lived coming to know Jesus.  His roles as Savior, Teacher, Lord, and Friend only scratch the surface of his relationship to each person.  Knowing him is so much more than knowing about him.  Eternal life is a life lived trusting Jesus.  This trust is how I accept this Jesus I know as my life.  Life rightly lived is no more than life lived in trust of Jesus who we are coming to know because of a God who loves us so deeply.

What parts of your life do you find difficult to entrust to Jesus?  Usually fear surrounds these spots.  Can you start to give one of these things away to him?