Mark 8:34-38
“Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.””
Mark 8:34-38 NIV
Jesus Words serve as a call to radical discipleship, urging us to count the cost and wholeheartedly embrace the path of following Him. They remind us that true life, purpose, and fulfillment are found in surrendering ourselves to Him, even if it means losing the approval of the world.
Who is not interested in saving their lives, in making them worthwhile, full and rich, worth the living. Deep down within us, every one of us has a hunger for life and a desire to find it, to the full extent of what it was designed to be. This is what Jesus is talking about. “If this is what you want,” He says, “I'll tell you how to acquire it.”
This is our Lord's outline of the process of discipleship. Here, in His own words, we look at what it means to be a disciple. The very fact that our Lord called the multitudes together with the disciples has raised questions in people's minds. Many have wondered if this indicates that He was seeking to make disciples, evangelizing or was He simply telling his own disciples what it will mean to live as disciples.
Now we are not all good disciples at all times, there is much of failure. And our Lord has made provision for failure in our lives. But He is talking about the heart. What is your aim? What do you really want of your life? Do you want to live it for yourself, or do you want to live it for Him?
This is God's part in the work of discipleship. Jesus did not come to call us to ultimate barrenness, weakness, darkness, and death. He called us to life, to richness, to enjoyment, to fulfillment. But He has told us that the way there means death. Discipleship ends in life, not in death. It ends in fulfillment and satisfaction. But the only way that we can find it is by means of a cross.
To deny self has nothing to do with self-denial, where we give up this or that, now and again. It is a total surrender of our own wishes and personal desires. It is offering our entire life as a living sacrifice which is set apart for God and remains holy to the Lord. It is disassociating ourselves from our own wishes and personal desires, and living life with a divine perspective, where we are willing to say, "Not my will but Thine be done."
This is what Jesus said to the men of His day. Becoming a Christian is not easy. It is radical. But it is the only way to life. For Jesus' faithful followers, the cross is not a piece of jewelry or even a symbol, it is a lifestyle. It is the willingness to follow Jesus in every way including the way of the cross.
For us to do that, we must surrender our selfishness and lay down our lives for the needs of others. We must have unflinching loyalty to God no matter the cost. More than just a burden to bear, our cross to bear is a total buy-in to the life, character, and way of Jesus.
To follow Christ as a disciple, may necessitate the forsaking of creature comforts, earthy ambitions, material riches, relational ties, and even life itself. Let us seek to become sacrificial disciples of Christ and not merely saved followers. Let us die to our own desires and live our life for Christ alone!!!
Father thank You for this day and that we have been saved by grace through faith in Christ. Lord let Your abundant blessings fall upon my friend and family today. Lord thank You that nothing we can do can add to the finished work of You on the Cross and having believed on You, our salvation is eternally secure. Father, thank you that you are the kind of God who does not lie to us, but who tells us the truth right straight out, without hesitation and You expect us to react honestly. Lord we cannot deceive You, we cannot lie to You, we can to others but we cannot to You. Lord there are many today who are facing this choice, we ask that You will help them to make the choice for life, and not for death, that by Your power You will help them find the grace to say Yes to You and to enter into life by means of the cross, which will humiliate them at times, offend them, expose their shame, cast out their pride, yet it will also bring release, liberty, freedom, gladness, and joy. Lord, we pray in this crucial moment that many will decide. Daddy we love You amen. Be a blessing. Love ya !
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