Matthew 2:25 & 28

The term, “Use it or lose it” has both good and bad implications. For example, a person must use vacation days or lose them; or if we do not use our muscles, they will lose their strength. There are some habits and attitudes that we need to not use and lose.

There are times to hold on tightly, and other times when we just have to let go. Jesus said that if we want to have meaningful and eternal life, we must be willing to give up the life that we are trying to live without him.

The task for us as Christians is to know what we must use and what we need to lose. This requires the work of prayer, and the aid of the Holy Spirit along with the Bible; and of course, that we walk with Christ. Disciples learn by Jesus’ example what to lose, and what to use. Study the Gospels; It is easy to see how the lives of the disciples became more like their Lord the longer that they walked with him. It became so real that the early believers were labeled “Christians,” or “Little Christs.”

A lot of what we have lost in Christianity in America is not because it was taken from us, but rather, we simply lost it by not using it. As one person said to E. Stanley Jones, “I did not mean to lose my faith. It was as though I had placed it in a drawer for safe keeping, and when I returned to get it, it was not there.”

I am praying for a revival of using our faith. The psalmist wrote that the Good Shepherd “restores my soul.” It is time to understand what we sing about God’s amazing grace when we say, “I was lost, but now I am found.” Our life in Christ should be guarded above all other treasures, and it must be used, not buried in hidden places. Things that go in display cases soon get replaced with something else; and then put away, and then lost. Faith is a tool for life, and not intended to be a whatnot on a shelf; and the life that Jesus gives is abundant, so use it for the Glory of God.