True life. What is it? Is there a way to determine that a life is more true than another? I have to say there is because I've lived it. I love the way the Bible answers this question. Jesus claims to be the way, the truth, and the life. I like to combine them since they are all ands. Jesus is the way to true life.
Jesus is full of all kinds of weird thoughts about life. He says, "He who seeks his life will lose it; and he who loses his life for my sake will find it." I look at his thoughts this way: He who seeks out his own life will have passed up true life, but he who gives up his own life for my life will find true life. Because we've already established that Jesus is the way, the truth and the life, this makes perfect sense. Moving on to that life, the life Jesus calls us to is difficult. The good news is there is a wonderful life for each person out there that continues on into eternity. There's a failsafe built in ,though. The next part of the verse we've looked at adds, "No one comes to the Father but through me." You see, true life, is a life spent in connection with the one that created you. Only the one who built you knows all that you're capable of. Therefore, your true life, the purpose for which you were built, is known only to the Father.
So, if we give up our own life to live Jesus's life we come to the Father. We must give up anything we are about. Paul said he died daily. Jesus called it picking up your cross and following him. This life of Jesus held much suffering and sorrow. If we are to follow him we must also trudge through suffering and sorrow. Our awareness of our surroundings depends on how close we are to God. We may walk through these things and barely see them because of the strength of our focus on the loving God. Or we can lose our focus on God and instead focus on our surroundings. We tend to drown when that's the case.
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