Matthew 16:24, "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." (KJV)
Dear Sarah,
In my time of devotions this evening, the Lord was speaking to me from this verse. I thought it may be of some help to you also, since you are young, and following in my footsteps, as I try to walk with the Lord. That's why I decided to write you.
It's all too easy for me to recite a verse like this, without letting it speak into my daily life situations. Why, I'm not even being persecuted... how could this apply to me?
The instructions are only to a select group of people. Those who "would" follow Jesus. Those who have decided to love and obey Him. Those who are devoted to thinking like He thinks, and doing what He does; to obeying the Father as He obeyed the Father. "If any man will come after Me..."
"...let him deny himself..." What is this "denial"? What is being denied? Food... clothing? No. Not specifically. Rather, MY self; my SELF. My "rights":
My way of being and doing,
My right to personal security, even that of knowing what the path ahead is, and the natural stubbornness that makes me unwilling to move a muscle, until I know what the provision of the future will be.
My right to not be a failure,
My right to feel the reward of a job well done,
My right to be appreciated and recognized,
My right to have people enjoy being around me,
My right to be comfortable,
My right to be right: the first time and every time.
My right to be perfect. hmm... (maybe my right to think I'm perfect?)
.......................................
My right to have servants who are submissive... wait a minute? really?
I am called to deny it all. But what does "DENY" mean anyway? It means to disown, to reject, and to refuse. To take as fact the truth that I have no rights. To completely disengage myself from these mindsets and patterns of living that are so worldly. When I am Jesus' disciple I am nobody else than who I am in Him. I have none of these aspects of my previous identity, but take my value in His grace. I rest upon not what I can do on my own, but instead, on the solid, unchanging Rock, Christ Jesus.
Sarah, I wonder: what does it mean to take up one's cross? I know that when Jesus was bearing His cross on the road to Golgotha, He was not thinking about the fun He had yesterday, or the good times next week. In other words, Jesus wasn't living for pleasure. His goal wasn't pleasure. On the other hand, His goal wasn't even pain. He was there with the distinct purpose of doing God's will, and He was going to accomplish God's plan without surrender to his body's cries of pain, to his emotions giving up, and to the mental torture. So as He was on that road, with the cross on His shoulder, He was preparing to die.
How about me? Am I living for God? for God's purposes? (Not just God's purposes for ME and MY life but His purposes to be accomplished in the world? His kingdom come, His will be done on earth as it (always) is in Heaven?) Am I living with the same faithful obedience Jesus showed, that resulted in resolve and seriousness?
"... and follow Me." Follow His example. Follow His path of denial and suffering while fulfilling God's purposes. Follow His word. Follow the Holy Spirit as He shows us how to walk, how to live for God, just as Jesus did.
Dear Sarah, I hope this has somehow helped you to think through your current life situations from a Biblical perspective. As for me, I want to draw closer to Jesus everyday: know Him better, love Him more, hear Him more clearly, follow Him more readily, understand Him more completely. And let me remind you: the best thing in the whole world is to love Jesus.
Your friend,
Lady Theophilus
