Nothing to Lose

2 Thessalonians 2:8-9

8 Then that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming; 9 that is, the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders,

As Paul continues his explanation, I think it’s cool how he puts these thoughts together.  The lawless one will be revealed, meaning the antichrist will become apparent, and then we are given a reassurance and promise: whom the Lord will slay.

You see, we needn’t worry about it, “God’s got this one covered” (as I like to say).  Although it may seem like a time of death, destruction, and dismay, our hope in Christ shines through it all.  Paul said it best in (I think) Romans, “For me to die is gain, to live is Christ.”  Dead or alive, persecuted or peaceful, poor or prosperous, we have nothing to lose, all we have is to gain!

It makes me think back to maybe a movie or book.  Talking about having nothing to lose, it mentions how dangerous a man is who has nothing to lose.  Suddenly I think it was Rambo, lol.  Either way, this is what makes us dangerous as Christians.  We have nothing to lose, so we have nothing to fear.  If we have nothing to fear, then we need not restrict ourselves in how we live, act, or speak.  We can speak up for Christ whenever we want, to whomever we want, however we want (in accordance with His Word).

About a year ago our pastor taught a series on being “dangerous Christians” and I’ve sought that out ever since.  This promise that Paul reminds us about in this letter enhances that vision.  You see, Christ taught us that if we die to ourselves, give up everything of this world, and follow Him, we will not only save ourselves, but gain a life that is supernatural.  What does that sound like to you?  To me it sounds like someone who has nothing to lose!

So as we go about our day thinking about what to buy, what to do, what we need or want, let’s think about how free we would be if we thought the opposite:  What don’t I need?  What do I waste time on?  What isn’t truly important in my life?

I just “scrubbed” my music collection.  Music I’ve never listened to, music I haven’t listened to in years.  I was telling my wife how difficult it was because just as I was going to delete a lot of it, the thought would run through my mind, “what if I want to listen to this one day?  What if I need it?  God reminds us in Philippians 4:19, “And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”  Everything else is just a distraction.

What do you have to lose?  What will you gain by losing it?

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *