Life That Is Not Consumed

Most people today do not consciously reject God. They simply drift through life overwhelmed by activity, responsibility, and noise. Days are filled with work, obligations, deadlines, and the effort to build a secure and respectable life. When work pauses, screens take over. Information replaces silence. Distraction replaces attention. Life keeps moving forward, but it is quietly being consumed.

Jesus speaks directly into this condition with unsettling clarity: “They have eyes but do not see, ears but do not hear.” (Mark 8:18). He is not criticizing intelligence or effort. He is describing a way of living where people are constantly stimulated but rarely attentive, constantly informed but rarely transformed.

They see many things, yet fail to perceive what truly matters. They hear many voices, yet fail to listen to God.

In Jesus’ teaching, life is not usually lost through dramatic rebellion against God. It is lost slowly, almost invisibly, by being crowded out. In the parable of the sower, Jesus explains that the word is choked by “the cares of the world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things.” (Mark 4:19).

These are not shocking sins. They are ordinary pressures: concern for stability, pursuit of comfort, fear of falling behind, desire to keep up with others. Over time, they fill the heart so completely that there is no space left for God.

Many people live as if time were abundant and life secure. Plans stretch far into the future. Meaning is postponed. Conversion and repentance are delayed. Jesus interrupts this illusion with a blunt reminder. In the parable of the rich fool, God says: “You fool! This very night your life will be demanded of you.” (Luke 12:20). The man’s mistake is not success or preparation. It is living as if life belonged to him and tomorrow were guaranteed.

Because life is fragile, Jesus continually brings attention back to the present moment: “Do not worry about tomorrow… Each day has enough trouble of its own.” (Matthew 6:34). This is not an invitation to irresponsibility. It is an invitation to awareness. Tomorrow may never arrive. Today is where life is given and where God is encountered.

Yet Jesus does not teach that the purpose of life is simply to preserve it. He draws a clear line between existing and truly living: “What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his life?” (Mark 8:36). A person can succeed, accumulate, and be admired, and still lose what matters most to God.

At the tomb of Lazarus, Jesus reveals what He means by life in its deepest sense: “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.” (John 11:25–26). Jesus does not deny physical death. He redefines it. The body may weaken and fail, but the life that comes from God cannot be destroyed.

This is why Jesus says: “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” (John 10:10). Abundant life does not mean ease, comfort, or the absence of suffering. Jesus speaks these words while moving toward the cross. Abundant life means life rooted in God, life that suffering cannot empty, life whose meaning cannot be taken away.

Jesus makes clear that this life is not only future. “The kingdom of God is in your midst.” (Luke 17:21). Where God reigns, eternal life is already present. Eternal life begins not after death, but with relationship: “This is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God.” (John 17:3).

Jesus describes eternal life in simple, present terms: “My sheep hear my voice, I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish.” (John 10:27–28). Eternal life is being known by God, hearing His voice, and choosing daily to follow Him. These are not abstract ideas. They are lived realities.

Because death is real and life is fragile, Jesus gives a simple command: “Stay awake.” (Matthew 24:42). Not fearful. Not anxious. Awake. To live knowing that time is gift, that each day matters, and that life is not endless.

Jesus does not ask people to abandon their work, their families, or their responsibilities. He asks them not to live as if these things were their life or to place them above God. He warns against building an identity on what we achieve, possess, or control, because none of these things last. Instead, He calls us to entrust our lives to God and to stop clinging to a life that cannot endure.

As Jesus says in Gospel of Matthew 16:25:

“Whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”

To listen to Jesus means to receive His words as truth spoken by God, to give them authority over our own opinions and desires, and to allow them to correct and reshape how we think and live. It means paying attention not only with the ears, but with a willing heart, choosing obedience rather than selective agreement. To listen to Him is to remain in His word, to recognize His voice amid the noise of the world, and to respond with trust, repentance, and action, knowing that His words are spirit and life and that those who hear them and put them into practice are led into true freedom and life.

To hear His voice means to recognize the truth of Jesus not as an abstract idea, but as the living word that speaks to the heart and calls for a response. It means becoming familiar with His teaching so that His voice can be discerned from all others, learning to distinguish what aligns with His words from what contradicts them. To hear Him is not about hearing sounds, but about spiritual attentiveness, a heart open to correction, comfort, and guidance, and a willingness to follow where He leads, trusting that His voice leads to life, peace, and truth.

To follow Jesus, according to His own words in the Gospels, is first of all to place one’s trust in Him and to accept His authority over life. Jesus repeatedly calls people to believe Him, not as a teacher among many, but as the One sent by the Father, the way, the truth, and the life. Following Him begins with repentance, a change of heart and direction, where a person turns away from sin, self-rule, and false securities, and turns toward God with humility. This repentance is not merely feeling regret, but a sincere decision to live differently, to let God reshape the heart from within. Jesus teaches that those who follow Him must become like children, not naive, but humble, receptive, and dependent on God, no longer trusting in their own righteousness or wisdom.

To follow Jesus also means self-denial, as He clearly says, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me.” This does not mean rejecting life, family, or work, but refusing to make the self the center of everything. It is the daily choice to put God’s will above personal ambition, comfort, pride, or fear. Taking up the cross means accepting obedience even when it costs something, whether reputation, control, or ease. Jesus never hides that following Him involves sacrifice, yet He insists that this path leads to true life, while clinging to one’s own life leads to loss.

Following Jesus means listening to His words and putting them into practice. He says that those who love Him keep His commandments, and He compares obedience to building a house on rock. His teachings shape everyday decisions: choosing forgiveness instead of resentment, truth instead of convenience, generosity instead of greed, faith instead of anxiety. He calls His followers to love God with all their heart and to love their neighbor as themselves, extending mercy even to enemies. This love is not sentimental but active, expressed through compassion, service, and a willingness to bear with others patiently.

To follow Jesus is also to remain in Him. He speaks of abiding, staying connected to Him as branches to a vine. This means living in continual dependence on Him through prayer, attention to His words, and trust in the Father’s care. It is through this relationship that a person is transformed, producing fruit such as humility, peace, faithfulness, and love.

Finally, following Jesus means hope. He promises that those who hear His voice and follow Him receive eternal life, a life that begins now and cannot be destroyed by suffering or death. To follow Him, then, is not merely to adopt a moral system, but to walk with Him, learn from Him, and allow His life to become the source and direction of one’s own.

This is how a person receives what the world cannot offer and what death cannot take away: true life with God, beginning now and lasting forever.