Mark 8:34-38 (NLT)
Then,
calling the crowd to join His disciples, He said, “If any of you wants to be My
follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, 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 and for the sake of
the Good News, you will save it. And what do you benefit if you gain the whole
world but lose your own soul? Is
anything worth more than your soul? If anyone is ashamed
of Me and My message in these adulterous and sinful days, the Son of Man will
be ashamed of that person when He returns in the glory of his Father with the
holy angels.”
Jesus gives two specific
requirements if you sincerely wish to follow Him. First, you must turn from your selfish
ways. What does this mean for you? It means seeking first what Jesus wants you
to do and be. You always think of Him
and His Word and Ways before you proceed to make critical decisions in your
life. It means that you no longer depend
on your own views of life and resources, but will yield to Him and admit that
you cannot live your life successfully without putting Him first. It means doing away with selfish pride and
self-sufficiency and living a daily life of humility and dependence on
Christ. Many people cannot make this
transition.
You also need to take up your
cross in order to follow Jesus. No, your
cross is not the cross He carried and died on.
Your cross is what God is calling you to do with your life. Deep down in your soul, you know what you
need to do with your life and being obedient to God. That vision, then mission, is clarified
through studying His Word where there will be words and passages that will
touch you deeply. His Word teaches you,
reproves you, corrects you, and trains you to be righteous; to live your life
as God wants you to live it (II Timothy 3:16-17). Your cross likely will cause some suffering
since a desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will result in persecution (II
Timothy 3:12)---people rejecting you, making fun of you and your faith, and
criticizing you.
And, then, of course, you
follow Jesus. You do what He says
through His Word and through His still small voice within your soul. You will stumble many times, no question, but
your heartfelt desire is to follow Him.
To follow Him means that you will love others as yourself, forgiven
those who trespass against you, pray for others, bear one another’s burdens,
give cheerfully, obeying these and all other exhortations from the Word of God.
What is your motive for
following Jesus? Eternal salvation. That is what Jesus is talking about when He
says that either you hang on to your life---your selfish life---now and lose
the possibility of eternal salvation, or you give up your selfish life for a
life that follows Jesus and carries you into eternity. You must make a choice; you cannot have it
both ways. You either ask, “what’s in it
for me” or “what’s in it for my Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ”. The first attitude is self-focused, the
second attitude is God-focused. God
gives you the freedom to make your choice.
Ray Stedman tells this great
story[1] to
contrast the two attitudes: In 64 AD the
Apostle Paul appeared before Nero, the Roman emperor, to give answer to the
charges against him. The emperor, in his
royal robes, seated upon a throne. His
name was known throughout the empire.
But nobody knew of Paul. Here was this obscure little Jew, bald-headed,
big-nosed, bandy-legged, totally unimpressive in his physical appearance -- he
says so himself in his letters. And he
was a leader of an obscure, heretical little sect that was known only as
troublemakers. Nobody had heard of Paul, while everybody had heard of Nero. But
the interesting thing is that now, two thousand years later, we name our sons
Paul, and our dogs Nero.
How would you answer Jesus’
question, “And what do you benefit if you gain the
whole world but lose your own soul?” We
know what it means to gain the whole world---you obtain and possess everything
you could possibly want. But, what does
it mean to lose your own soul? To lose
your soul means that whatever you did to gain the whole world, if it was
accomplished through cheating, lying, and hurting others, in the process you
lose your peace of mind, your emotional stability, and your ability to follow
God ever because of the immensity of your sinfulness.
Are
you ashamed of Jesus? Are you ashamed of
His Words in Scripture? Your words and
actions describe whether you are a true follower of Christ or you are ashamed
of Him. He knows what is in your heart
and if deep down you are ashamed of Him, He will tell you on Judgment Day, “I
never knew you” (Matthew 7:23).
What choices are you making
with your life? They have eternal
consequences. Heed carefully what Jesus
is saying here. If you are bothered by
any of His words, you still have control of your soul and still have time to
save it. Act on your convictions.
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