“Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.”’
Moderation is overrated. The phrase “Everything in moderation” is attributed to the Greek poet Hesiod. But in this verse Jesus blows that philosophy out of the water.
At this point, the disciples have seen amazing miracles; crowds are gathering… the movement is gaining momentum. Then Jesus abruptly forecasts His own death and clarifies what it means to follow Him. Jesus knew the allure of success and approval could be dangerous, so he makes sure they understand the assignment.
Jesus doesn’t “recruit” followers; in fact, He consistently highlights the cost of being one… and there’s nothing “moderate” about following Christ. In this verse He listed three requirements.
First, “denying yourself” which involves a change of management. You are no longer on the throne. You no longer issue orders; you obey them.
Second, “taking up the Cross” means dying… His disciples understood that men carrying crosses were headed for execution. Spurgeon recommends we “die every morning before we leave our bedroom” as a way of daily taking up our cross… acknowledging that it is no longer I who live, but Christ living in me.
And finally, “following Jesus” means changing direction… You’re not slightly altering your course; you are doing an about-face. You stop pursuing your goals and start chasing His.
It is critical that we recognize that Jesus said we do these things DAILY.… My good friend, and mentor Joe White says that “every” is one of the most important words in the English language. What he means… and what Jesus makes clear in this passage, is that picking up your cross, denying yourself, and following Him is not a onetime act. It is something we do EVERY day. Trusting Christ is not the finish line… It’s the beginning of our full-time calling to fight against the powers of this dark world and the spiritual forces of evil.
It’s unacceptable to God when we just “Moderately” adjust our lives for Him …And when you consider the price He paid for our redemption, you understand His disgust with those who approach their faith with anything less than wholehearted reckless abandon.
“Radical Christianity is not going on a mission trip or a big conference. Radical Christianity is staying steady for decades.” - Mike Bickle
No comments:
Post a Comment