When Life Is In the Loss, Death’s In the Gain

WHEN. That’s the most important word in the context of this article.

When…

When Loss Is Gain

When life is in the loss, and death is in the gain, we see the power in living to lose what we cannot keep, in order that we might gain what we can never, in all eternity, lose.

Here’s the sting: lose it — what can be lost. Willingly. Whatever is not of eternity is to be lost, willingly, if that’s how situations tend. Without a second thought.

Whatever cannot be lost is all we should endeavour to keep — our eternal destiny.

Let go of what holds you away from the nearest joy: your God.

We stand to lose anything, possibly, of what we cannot keep. Accept it and prosper.

When loss is considered gain, nothing lost in life can ever defeat our resolve — a distinctly Jesus resolve!

When Gain Is Loss

We’ve covered this, but let’s make doubly sure of it; it’s a massively significant message: certain gains are certain losses. To gain a million bucks is a loss unless that million is poured into the Kingdom — the sowing into a Kingdom vision for the flourishing use of all those material resources that do a multiplicity of good.

Nothing losable can ever be gained. But that which is losable that’s sown into the Kingdom is gained for God’s glory in eternity.

Certain gains are certain losses.

We may gain the entire world, and much in terms of material riches and influence, but we’ll be buried one day, or scattered, dust to dust, like a pauper. All certain gains do is marginalise us away from an eternally more certain other gain — the real and certain hope of being raised into eternal life.

When gain is loss, such gains are a pure waste of time, space and effort. Such losses have only the appearance of gain.

Life’s Fundamental Question: WHO Are You Living Your Time For?

Not simply “how are you using your time?” but, poignantly, who are you living your time for? Who we live for will command how we use our time. Time will only ever be gain when it’s lived for Jesus, even though, lived that way, it may often feel like a complete loss.

Second-by-second, time whizzes by,

Some of this time we don’t even try,

Hours tick by slower by the minute,

Until eternity beckons, and then finally we win it.

Second-by-second, time whizzes by,

Those seconds and minutes verily fly,

Hours tick by slowly, yet doesn’t time cruise?

Time’s our opportunity, to consider and choose.

Who we live for will command how we use our time.

Time’s a linear concept. It keeps running. At the same pace. Each and every second is an opportunity to start, stop, change or continue. We’re all best to accept that some of our lives we’ll consider wasted. Over a full lifetime there may be just a few moments that we’ll ever cherish. But God has given us the fullness of time in his abundant generosity. And if we live for God we’ll have all eternity to enjoy what we sowed into heaven from here on earth.

Abundance makes abundantly more because it’s a kernel of clarity.

More seconds of thankfulness make for more hours of joy.

More hours of joy make for more weeks of hope-filled peace.

More weeks of hope-filled peace make for whole years of sanctity.

If we’re living our time for Jesus, accepting with joy our losses, which is making for us as gains, we’re blessed in the eternal realms.

Accept with joy your losses,

For gains are going your way,

Accept with joy each loss,

Sown into glory each is, each day.

When life is in the loss, and we understand life can only come through receiving from God, we understand that life’s not about taking, anything.

Life is about loss and the receipt of grace, which covers each loss in the joy of hope for what’s still coming.

When life is a profusion of loss, our losses take us through grief into a maturity of abundance. And loss is ultimately gain. When death is in the gain, we take what was never ours; that which could never be.

© 2015 Steve Wickham.