Lose Yourself...

It is fascinating how much we, as human beings, are so naturally drawn to the things of God. We are drawn to God even before we come to know Jesus, before we begin to walk with Him and immerse ourselves in His Word, and before He begins to unveil the mysteries that are hidden in Christ. The more we begin to understand who God is, the more obvious it becomes that our spirit was always crying out for Him.

I had a moment like that recently as I was praying. I was thinking about the concept of dying to self, and an old rap song that I used to listen to popped into my head. It was the song, "Lose Yourself" by Eminem. For those of you have never heard it, let me share the lyrics of the refrain with you:

You better lose yourself in the music, the momentYou own it, you better never let it goYou only get one shot, do not miss your chance to blowThis opportunity comes once in a lifetime you better

Every time that I heard this song growing up, I would get so excited. I used to listen to it before I competed in sports or before I went to work out. There was something about the concept of "losing yourself" that resonated with me. I knew that in order to operate at my full potential, I had to get out of my own way. I knew that I had to let go and let instinct and natural ability take over without the thoughts and insecurities within my mind creating a barrier.

At some level, we all know this. We can sense when we are supposed to be moving forward, but all of the junk that we have accumulated from our experiences hold us back. We long to be bold and courageous, but are fully aware of the fears within us that keep us from doing it. As we discover how difficult it is to overcome these insecurities and fears, we sometimes begin to change our terminology. We convince ourselves that we are just being wise and responsible by being so cautious, all the while knowing that we were made to simply "lose ourselves" and go for it!

While Eminem's target in these lyrics may have been way off, the longing within him that motivated them is not. Of course we were not made to lose ourselves in music, or any other worldly thing, but we were made to lose ourselves completely in Christ. Galatians 2:20 says, "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me."

That longing that we have in our heart to "lose ourselves" is the longing to live a life of faith that is completely surrendered to God. Deep within us, we know that this is truly how we were meant to live. We may all be at different stages of truly walking this out, but we simply cannot deny that draw within our hearts to live a life of meaning and purpose that extends so far beyond where our minds will currently allow us to go. God wants this for us too! He wants the blood of Jesus to set us free from ourselves, and enable us to run with unending passion and zeal for His Kingdom. How can you lose yourself today? What opportunity do you have to die to yourself, and exercise your faith in Christ?