“For whoever wishes to save his life will
lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.” (Matthew 16:25,
NASB95)
While I understand the purpose for Daylight Saving Time, I have never
quite agreed with the axiom of “spring forward.” That phrase is rather
oxymoronic don’t you think. Oh sure. I get it. In the springtime we move the
clock forward by one hour. Those are the mechanics of it and they are easily
accomplished. Just reach over to the night stand, adjust the hour on your alarm
clock and voila. You’re now living in Daylight Saving Time. But changing your
internal clocks isn’t so easy, is it? That’s because last fall you took
advantage of an extra hour of sleep when you were instructed to “fall back” and
set your clock earlier for a net one hour gain of sleep. That means “springing
forward” this Sunday will be difficult for most of us. I don’t know about you,
but I for one will find it difficult to “spring” into any kind of action when
the alarm clock goes off this coming Sunday. In fact, if I would let myself, I
could easily “fall back” into bed even though I anxiously await the wonder of
spring. And that’s precisely why I won’t let myself fall back into bed – the
wonder of spring. You see, I love spring. I love the smell of freshly mowed
grass. I love the cleansing beauty of spring rains and the flowers that follow.
And more than anything I look forward to longer days with more to do outside.
In short, Daylight Saving Time is the collective sacrifice our culture makes in
order to afford ourselves and our neighbors more time with our families and
more time enjoying God’s creation in its most colorful season. The investment
is minimal. The payoff is tremendous. Isn’t that just like walking with the
Lord? After all, Jesus tells us in Matthew 16:25 that losing life for His sake
is in reality finding true life. You see, Jesus has called us to a life of
sacrifice – one in which we pick up a cross every day and lug it around with
us. In return He promises true life, full of beauty and color that can only be
had in relationship with Him. Many of you here at North Side are used to the
sacrifice of carrying your crosses. Many of you are not. Many of you here
understand the gain God provides as you sacrifice your resources, your labor
and your time for the kingdom. Still others are chasing the next promotion at
work, the next greatest investment or the next romance and in the big picture
these things amount to nothing more than an extra hour of sleep on a dark
winter’s day. The take away here is that just as the logic of the axiom “spring
forward” escapes me, so does the logic of sacrificing for the Kingdom for
anyone who is living in the flesh. So here’s the deal. Daylight Saving Time
presents us with a perfect opportunity to reflect on the sacrifice God has
called us to make and the gain He promises to give. As spring begins to break
and the newness of life begins to appear God can show us the Kingdom
opportunities we have missed for want of an extra hour of sleep. Better yet, he
can show us the opportunities that lie ahead. My prayer this week is that we
would all move beyond our flesh and begin living with the recognition that we
are called to lose this life for His sake. I pray that you would lay hold of
God’s promise for spiritual gain as you “spring forward” into true life that
can only be had when you lose your life for Christ’s sake.
Scripture to Claim
“But whatever things were gain to me, those
things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count
all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus
my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but
rubbish so that I may gain Christ,” (Philippians 3:7–8, NASB95)
