“Finders keepers and losers weepers.”

We are inclined to protest this code of behavior because we feel that it is an expression of selfishness and unfairness. And yet, it is a subtle, basic philosophy of so many people.

In the New Testament Gospel of Mark, Jesus talks about losing your life in order to save it. Jesus emphasized this so much that everyone of the gospel writers remembered it. Six different times it is mentioned. It was not a casual remark but a deep and fundamental part of His philosophy of life.

In life there seem to be so many roads to travel. Actually, Jesus says there are only two, the high road and the low road. To quote Jesus, “For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for My sake, and the sake of the gospel, will save it.”

This statement about Christian discipleship will help us not to think first of our profit, ease, comfort, and security. Self-preservation is not the first law of the Christian life.

Jesus is reminding us again that life is not to be spent on selfish pursuits alone. One of the strongest cults of our day is the cult of success. Its creed proclaims that there is no limit to what a person can accomplish, and devotees are required to have ambition, hard work and determination. Its virtues are buying power, ease, and fame.

This command of Jesus calls for a changed set of values or motives. The questions are not: “How much can I get?” but “How much can I give?” Not, “What is the safe thing to do?” but “What is the right thing to do?”

The answers to these questions determine if we take the high road or the low road in life. The bottom line with Jesus is that only by service do we find greatness. Think about it. The persons whom the world remembers with love are the persons who serve others.

Selflessness in contrast to selfishness is so rarely seen in our self-centered world.

Everyone has the opportunity and the challenge to make this kind of goodness more attractive in our world.