The Biggest Loser...Wins

Those familiar with the popular TV show, The Biggest Loser, know that the one who wins the prize is the one who loses the most (weight).

The biggest loser of all time is Jesus, the One who lost everything but has come out the winner. Hear His words in John 12:24,25 (The Message) where He refers to His approaching death:

“Listen carefully: Unless a grain of wheat is buried in the ground, dead to the world, it is never any more than a grain of wheat. But if it is buried, it sprouts and reproduces itself many times over. In the same way, anyone who holds on to life just as it is destroys that life. But if you let it go, reckless in your love, you’ll have it forever, real and eternal."

He has gained everything by losing everything. The systems of the world are all designed so that winning is for those who are the most cunning, powerful, coercive, rivalrous, dominant, intelligent, manipulative, self-assertive, hard-working...The way God lived and died in Christ tells us that His system is of an entirely different nature; it's built on losing one's self life through self-giving love in order to gain one's real life in God.

As we enter the new year, we hear Jesus' challenge (Mark 8:35-37 The Message) to any who would be His followers:

Calling the crowd to join his disciples, he said, “Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You’re not in the driver’s seat; I am. Don’t run from suffering; embrace it. Follow me and I’ll show you how. Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to saving yourself, your true self. What good would it do to get everything you want and lose you, the real you? What could you ever trade your soul for?" 

Just like our Leader Shepherd, we win by losing; we find our true selves by giving up our autonomy and following His lead. May the new year be one in which we His followers, individually and collectively, measure winning as God does and find ways to align ourselves with the Biggest Loser...only to find one day that we are winners of that which really matters!