giving your life to Jesus - literally

 Today we read from these verses in the One Year Bible:

Deuteronomy 16:1-17:20
Luke 9:7-27
Psalm 72:1-20
Proverbs 12:8-9

Let's look at Luke. Jesus says that if you try to save your life you're gonna lose it, but if you give it to Him (lose your life for Him) you will save it. So how do we give it to Him? How do we lose our lives for Jesus?

Well, some of us are actually called to martyrdom. There are thousands of Christian martyrs all over the world in modern times. If you don't deny your faith, you might have to give up your life for it, depending on what country you live in and when.

But if you happen to live in a country where they don't kill you for being a Christian, you can give your life to Him this way: lift up your whole life to Him in prayer. Everything you do, think, say, etc can be a prayer if you lift it up to Him. And spend time in concentrated prayer every day. The key to a good prayer life, according to Thomas Merton, is "take the time." Just do it. Pray every day. In doing so, you're literally giving your life to Him.

God, thanks for showing us how to give our lives to You.