Deny Yourself

“And he said to all, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?”” (Luke 9:23-25 ESV). We may say we are followers of Jesus, but does our lifestyle support that claim? What does Jesus expect from those who follow him? He gives three things we should do if we decide to come after him. First, we are to deny living for self and humbly submit our will to God. We are to live out the Lord’s prayer, which says, “Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” We are to be as committed as Jesus was when he prayed in the garden and said to his Father, “Not my will but yours be done and then he willingly went to the cross to die for us. We are to be willing to step aside from our rights and be willing to be a sacrifice for the sake of the gospel and the needs of others.

Second, we are to take up our cross daily. The cross is not a symbol of a burden we are to carry; it is a symbol of death by the most painful and humiliating means humans could devise. To carry the cross is to carry your own execution device among those who ridicule you for your belief. We are to be willing to die too self and even to die physical in order to follow Jesus? Jesus made this point clear when he said, “whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. We see this being lived out daily in countries of persecution where believers are suffering and even dying for their faith.

Third, we are to follow Jesus. At the time when Jesus said, “Follow me”, he was inviting them to stay with him as he taught and traveled from place to place. In this way they could listen to him and watch how he lived and learn how to live as one of God’s children. Today we have the Scriptures from which we can learn about him and then as believers. We are to take his yoke and as we walk and work with him we are to learn from him. To do this we are to be crucified with Christ and allow him to live in and through us. For me to follow Jesus at a particular time in my life required me to spend time with him ministering in China.

Prayer

Father, following Jesus has been quite an adventure as it has taken me to different parts of the world to minister and to learn about people there. To follow him I had to let go of certain desires and even do some things I didn't want to do, but I learned from doing them. Today as I follow him, he has taken me in to social media to write Bible studies, providing a witness for him to readers in a surprising number of countries. Following Jesus comes with restraints, but through those restraints I find a different kind of freedom in a life of purpose, meaning and value. Father, thank you for choosing me and giving me to Jesus to become like him.

See "The Commands of Jesus" Index to view other commands.