April 11 Day 32
John 12:25-26
“Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.”
REFLECTION
We can never serve the Lord from our old life. When Jesus calls us we are not called to believe certain doctrines or perform certain duties – that is religion and not true discipleship. To follow the way of Jesus we must turn our backs on our old lives: it’s worldly values, its idols, and its self-deception. As the hymn goes: “no turning back, no turning back.”
The dangerous habit of Lent is to “give up” a bad habit or unworthy behavior. That sort of repentance is not true metanoia and leads us to deceive ourselves about the commitment required for true discipleship. Anything less than “everything” confuses us spiritually as we try to live in the world and in God’s kingdom at the same time. This is our human condition, that we seek God’s promises while clinging to faith in our own dark desires.
PRAYER: Lord, break our hearts. Empty us so we may be filled with your Holy Spirit and find new and eternal life in your Son. Break our grip on the things of this world and fill us with a hunger and thirst for the things of heaven. Help us turn from our old life and follow Jesus wherever he goes and serve him with joy and pure hearts. AMEN
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