A rich, young ruler asks Jesus what he must do to inherit eternal life. He claims to keep all of the Old Testament commandments, but apparently not the most important one of loving God with all his heart. He cannot sell all of his possessions and give to the poor and follow Jesus.
Luke 9:23-24
Following Jesus means denying myself, taking up my cross, and following him. Saving my life is tantamount to losing it, while losing my life for his sake will save it.
Luke 12:23,29-34
Life is more than the temporal -- food, drink, clothes. We are not to worry, for God knows what we need. We are to seek his kingdom, which he desires to give to us. Again we're told to sell our possessions and give to the poor, and in so doing to treasure heavenly, not earthly, things.
Luke 14:25-33
When we come to Christ, we must (by comparison) hate our family and even our own lives and take up our crosses and follow him. We must renounce all, understandign beforehand teh enormity of the cost of this calling.
John 4:31-38
The disciples urge Jesus to eat some food following his conversation with the Samaritan woman by the well. He replies that he has a food of which they do not know. "My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work."
John Piper offers much wisdom on this subject in his book Don't Waste Your Life. Where is our treasure? Where is our life? Our peace and hope and joy are not found in success and are not removed by crashing stock markets or lost jobs. Instead, our lives are based upon God and his call to give him glory in what we do and who we are. We are called to be productive and also called to care for the needy. (Think of the Thessalonians, who were told to work and be productive that they could give to others.) We live off a little in order to give and to bless. (I think here of the Macedonians mentioned in Paul's second letter to the Corinthians. Though they were poor, they gave beyond all expectations. Paul then tells the Corinthians, "I do not mean that others should be eased and you burdened, but that as a matter of fairness your abundance at the present time should supply their need, so that their abundance may supply your need.")
2 Corinthians 9:7-8
We don't give reluctantly but cheerfully, knowing that bountiful sowing brings bountiful reaping. "And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work."
(I love this word "sufficiency". It calls me back to earlier in 2 Corinthians, where Paul asks, "Who is sufficient for these things?" and then later replies to himself, "Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God, who has made us competent to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit.")
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