Luke 9:23 - "Then he said to them all: 'Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.'"
Deny yourself. What does this mean? So many things. In a culture where I am free to praise Jesus without fear of losing my life, it means giving up TV to spend time with God. It means losing sleep in order to spend time with God. It means loving somebody instead of being impatient or angry with them. It means telling the gospel to my neighbors unashamedly. It means so many things.
So many things that scare me. Why am I so afraid to give up me? I really don't know why because me isn't cutting it. Me gets impatient with my children a lot. Me complains a lot. Me wastes time on useless things. Me can be very lazy. Me has idols. Me is selfish. Me is prideful. Me is arrogant. Me is judgmental. Me is the opposite of Jesus. Me needed Jesus and that's why I called out to Him. I needed him and now I have him. So what am I so afraid of? Why am I afraid to let myself go when I know I am ugly on the inside when I don't have Jesus? When I'm not being like Jesus. I know myself, it's not pretty. It shouldn't be hard to deny myself. But I don't always deny myself. Because I like TV. I like running away from God. I like feeling justified when I am impatient or angry. I like my rights. But I don't get to have rights with Jesus. I need to lay them down.
2 Corinthians 5:17
"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!"
THANK GOD. When I am being angry or selfish or judgmental or anything evil, it's no longer me doing it. The old me is gone. The new me is here. So I have to deny myself because that's not me anymore.
Take up their cross daily. Uh oh. You know what that means. Death. First I have to deny myself. Then I have to die to myself. Again, this seems so difficult and I really don't know why.As I said, I know me. I should be okay with it. I'd like to point out the daily portion of this verse. DAILY. Daily I have to take up my cross. I like that God knew we would need to do this everyday. As if he knew we wouldn't 'get it' but rather would struggle with it and have it give up ourselves every day for him.
Follow Me. I like this part of the verse the best. Maybe it seems the easiest and that's why. But when I really think of it, following Jesus isn't easy. He dedicated his life to the Father. He healed people. He raised people from the dead. People judged him. People made fun of him. People abandoned him. People disobeyed him. One of his closest friends handed him over to be killed. He was persecuted. He had no permanent home. People misunderstood him. He listened to the Father and followed his instructions even to his death. Despite all that he went through, he did it with a great relationship with God. He had the Holy Spirit's help. Sure Jesus got tired, and angry and had to deal with a lot, but it was all worth it. He changed the world. He taught us true love. He reconciled us with the Father.
So do you truly want to follow Jesus? Do you follow Jesus? I think as Christians we toss around the phrase "I'm a follower of Jesus" so casually but don't actually do it. Do you heal people? Do you love everybody? Do you submit to God and truly make him Lord? Do you raise people from the dead? Is your life fully dedicated to the Father? I understand we are human, we make mistakes and that's where grace comes in. But please consider today if you follow Jesus and what that truly means and looks like. What does it mean to deny yourself? What does it mean to pick up your cross daily? What does it mean to follow Jesus?
