"Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me." Matthew 16:34. There are three steps in following Jesus; deny ourselves, pick up our cross, and follow Him.
Denying ourselves is the opposite of what we see in our society. This world wants us to celebrate everything we do, so we see photos on Facebook and Instagram of everything we do, even what we eat. God wants to give us an abundant life, "The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." John 10:10, and He asks us to humble ourselves so that He can lift us up to that abundant life, "Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up." James 4:10. This world wants us to "just do it," as if winning is the most important thing, which leads us to do unthinkable things to win. Of course, there have always been people like this in our society. However, a century ago, they were the exception. Today, even our children learn to give a victory dance when they fall off their bikes. Jesus calls us to a selfless life of serving others, "For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another." Galatians 5:13. This humble servant attitude is now the exception. If we are going to follow Jesus, step one is learning to deny ourselves.
Picking up our cross means we commit to Jesus no matter what comes. He suffered false accusations, a phony trial, beatings, and mocking, and then had to carry His cross to His own death. Jesus promised us that following Him would pit the majority of society against us, which means we will suffer because we chose to follow Him. He promises to never leave us, "Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the Lord thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee." Deuteronomy 31:6 and "Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee." Hebrews 13:5, and this is a covenant promise. Fulfilling our part of the covenant means we will not let anything draw us away from Him, not even our death. This is why He tells us to never look back once we have picked up our cross, "And another also said, Lord, I will follow thee; but let me first go bid them farewell, which are at home at my house. And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God." Luke 9:61-61.
Finally, we are to follow Him, which means becoming more like Him every day, every week, and every year, "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God." Romans 12:1-2. This process of sanctification continues throughout our lives as we renew our minds. We renew our minds by reading the Bible and applying Biblical principles. When we become part of a Biblical community, we help each other by discussing what we are learning as we attempt to change our lives; the Bible calls this iron sharpening iron, "Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend." Proverbs 27:17. The goal of this process is our becoming more like Jesus, "Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:" Philippians 1:6. Whatever we are unable to finish, with God's help, during our lives, Jesus will finish when He returns.
We want cheap grace.
Jesus died on the cross to give us real grace, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." John 3:16.
We want everything now.
Jesus told us to put up our treasures in heaven, "Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." Matthew 6:19-21.
We want to take up our swords.
Jesus took up His cross, "And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me." Luke 9:23.
We want the roaring lion.
Jesus came to be the slaughtered lamb, "The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world." John 1:29.
We keep trying to arm God.
God keeps trying to get us to disarm, "Then said Jesus unto him, Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword." Matthew 26:52 and "Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;" Matthew 5:43-44.
God has placed us in unique places throughout this world. This blog is about sharing His Word; please share it with those you believe would be blessed by hearing it. Bless you! If you want to receive the Quarterly Newsletter, email us at bill@reasoningwithgod.com. If you want to read past blogs, go to https://www.reasoningwithgod.com/blog.
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