Deuteronomy 30:15-20 / Luke 9:22-25
We were born without bringing anything into this world.
We die without taking anything with us.
But the surprising thing is that between life and death, we fight for what we didn’t bring to this world and what we cannot take out of this world.
That is an age-old truth that needs no further elaboration, but it always seems to be beyond our comprehension.
In the 1st reading, Moses had to reiterate this truth to God’s people as he sets before them life and prosperity or death and disaster.
The choice is obvious but the people seems to be oblivious to it.
But in the gospel, the choice was not only not obvious, but may seem rather ridiculous.
Jesus is asking us to give up our life for His sake if we want to save it.
But upon deeper reflection, our life belongs to God and we are in God’s hands.
To give up our life to follow Jesus should be the most obvious thing to do.
We rather put our life in God’s hands than to mess it up with our own hands.