21 Day Challenge – Day 2
Follow Me | Zack DeBerry
Scripture: Luke 9:23-25 (NLT)
Then he said to the crowd, If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross daily, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but are yourself lost or destroyed?
Observation
The cross in our day has become more of a symbol than what it represented 2000 years ago. Just a few verses before this call to take up your cross daily, Peter declared that Jesus was the Messiah. The one everyone was looking to for Hope and Freedom. Here, Jesus declares that to follow him is not just a symbolic gesture. Jesus reveals a way of living that demands dying to selfish ways and personal agendas.
The path to follow Jesus begins in death, death to our own desires and plans. Our call is to follow Jesus moment by moment, day by day. Our self-interest must not dominate our lives. Instead, we must be willing to suffer and deny ourselves every day, just as Jesus did.
Application
Are we following Jesus this way?
Is our walk with God a symbolic gesture in our lives marked by our own interests and desires.?
This passage tells us that we can live for ourselves and gain everything we may desire, but miss the fruit that comes from a sacrificial way of life. What are we pursuing in our day to day life that gets in the way of our dying to selfish pursuits and ambitions?
Prayer
God, I pray that as You laid down everything to connect me in relationship to You that I would have the faith and courage to give up everything to follow You. Help me to realize that nothing I can pursue will ever equal following You with all my heart and life.
Amen.