Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

Our verse for today teaches that there are two fundamental ways that we can live life. We can choose to live a life on our own terms, or we can choose to live a life in service to Jesus Christ and His Kingdom. Whichever choice we make has fundamental repercussions.

If we choose to live a life on our own terms, then we will lose our lives. The person who makes this choice has decided that what comes first in life is himself and his own interests. Having lost sight of the true meaning and purpose found in Jesus, he is left to find meaning in things that can never fully satisfy. Although he may gain these things and even much wealth in the world, he does so at the price of his soul (Mark 8:36). The self-driven lose their lives in eternity, and they lose them in this life as well by wasting them on meaningless, self-serving endeavors.

If we choose to live a life in service to Jesus Christ and His Kingdom, on the other hand, then we will find our lives. Instead of placing priority on themselves and their own fleshly desires, the spiritually-minded place priority on what Jesus wants. They have found the true meaning and purpose of life, so they no longer need to make futile quests searching for meaning and purpose in things that can never satisfy. Although they may lose reputation and the things of the world, they gain their own souls. Indeed, they may even lose their lives as martyrs in service to Jesus, but they find eternal life.

Apart from Christ, the search for meaning and purpose in life is a futile and frustrating quest that ends in nothing other than, as King Solomon put it, a meaningless “chasing after the wind,” (Ecclesiastes 2:11).

On a regular basis we should take stock of what we do and why we do it. We should regularly ask ourselves if what we do is done in service to our own selfish wants and desires or in service to the King.