Following Christ

"If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self? If anyone is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels." Luke 9:23-26.

Jesus isn't really all that vague when he tells people what it takes to follow Him; He just asks a lot. He says very clearly that those who want to follow Him must 1.) deny themselves 2.) take up their cross and 3.) follow Him.There is nothing complicated about what Jesus is saying, it's just hard for us to do. To deny oneself is to disregard his or her selfish wants and desires. I don't know about you, but when I wake up in the morning, sleep often seems more appealing than reading my Bible and praying to God. It doesn't get any easier in the afternoon or evening either. It seems I can always come up with something I should do or want to do that will keep me from spending time with God. We all guard our "free" time or "personal" time so closely that we usually leave no room for following Christ.

Jesus is not looking for casual followers. He wants those who will give up everything to follow Him, even their own lives. This is why He uses the powerful image of taking up one's cross. For a person to carry their own cross was the ultimate act of submission. Imagine being forced to participate in your own execution. But think about it, if we are going to identify with Christ and not forsake Him, we must also identify with His death.

While there are many Christians who are persecuted and face hardship and death for their faith, most of us in America don't know the first thing about suffering for Christ . . . myself included. Nevertheless, we are all called to die to ourselves. Making the decision to follow Jesus means forfeiting your entire life to Him without reservations.
When we die, we leave everything in this world behind. Likewise, when we die to ourselves we let go of all our wants, desires, ambitions, etc. and turn them over to God. I'm not saying that as Christians we aren't allowed to do any of the things that we like to do because we're supposed to "die to ourselves." But be honest with yourself think about the one thing that you want most.

I mean it, really take the time to reflect on your life and try to figure out the one thing you go after in life. If you're stuck, consider your thoughts and actions; they will usually point to what your heart really wants. If you can't narrow it down to one thing or if your one thing isn't following/loving Jesus Christ then you are holding too tightly to your life and you will eventually lose it. Those who feel they have much to lose in this life will have the most difficulty following Jesus because they are afraid of letting go.

Jesus is still calling to us: "Leave everything behind and follow me." He has far more to offer than anything we can find in this life.