True Life
God has called us to give him our full life. He even goes so far as to say, Whoever finds his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. We believe that and even try to do that, but let me propose to you that few people actually do it.

The Barrier
There is one huge boulder that is getting in our way and for some may lead to spiritual death: The American Dream – or any dream for that matter – that sets an expectation for what life should be that doesn’t align with what we see in God’s word. We have an idea in our head of what a good life is and then we pursue that. This dream makes us the ruler of our lives, always comparing our life to this dream or our expectation.

Flip It Around
Instead, what if we asked God what he wanted us to do with our lives, and then we found a way to make that happen? For most of us that would be a radical re-centralizing of our goal – most of us try to make the most money that we can and then with that money comes the means to do the things we want to do or believe are important. I will propose to you that it is better to flip that and find what is important, namely what God has created us to do. We will then find that he provides the means to support that way of life, whatever it may be.

An Example
For an example, in 2015 I knew I was supposed to be in Spokane, supporting my local church, being on a mission with a small group within the church body, homeschooling and teaching my kids to believe in the Lord, and serving the City of Spokane. I moved my family away from the Seattle area, quit my job at Microsoft where I made six figures, sold our house then left our friends our family and our community behind. I was in the place God wanted me, doing the things God wanted me to do and from there I asked Him for the means to be able to support that. That was scary. It was hard.

Count The Cost
It is uncomfortable to orient your life this way and requires us to trust in Him completely. It requires us to abandon the security that our hearts so desperately want to hold on to, that we believe money, position, place, power gives us. But here’s the thing – those things don’t really give us security at all. Every person dies. Remember that Jesus said whoever finds his life will lose it. Those things are what we always seem to be looking for and many find, and yet all end up in the same place – dead and gone like all everyone one day.

The Call of the King
Now, Jesus says, whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. What life would Jesus have us find? – The life we were meant for and will continue after this one is over – a life lived in pursuit of our Father, our God, our King. A life to worship him, to give him praise and glory and honor and to joyfully exclaim that he is our everything. That is the life we will continue when we die. Jesus is preparing a place for us to do this very thing.