‘Then he [Jesus Christ] called the crowd to him along
with his disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple [follower] 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
Most of us believe that denying ourselves
for the sake of Jesus and the Gospel is not really necessary to our lives. This
is because we think that God has put us into this world to live comfortable and
peaceful lives. We think that if we are living and leading what comfortable and
peaceful lives really look like, it would please God. Therefore, we tend to live
our lives according to our own desires, passions, pleasures, and will.
Furthermore, we might even think that our culture world is directly connected
to the kingdom of heaven. In other words, we believe that all of us would enter
the kingdom of heaven at the end of the age. Hence, we think that it is okay to
serve ourselves and God at same time. For instance, if one person goes to the
church with His devout heart before the Lord and then he continues on serving
himself other than Sunday or when he has to go to the church, he might believe
himself that he is becoming the righteous follower and disciple in the Lord.
However, the truth is that sacrificing and
denying ourselves for the sake of Jesus and the Gospel of Christ is necessary
to those of us who want to follow Him and commit our lives to Him until the
end of the age (Romans 12:1-2; Mark 8:34-38). This is because if we are
going to serve ourselves fully, then we would not have any time to serve God (2 Corinthians 4:4), due to the fact that
the desires of the Spirit is contrary to the desires of our own nature (Galatians 5:17). In fact, Philippians 1:27-29 urges us that to live
our lives according to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. ‘For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness
that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will
live by faith.”’ (Romans 1:17) Therefore, the word of God encourages,
influences, and teaches us to live righteously before the Lord (2 Timothy 3:16-17). “For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged
sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it
judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” (Hebrews 4:12) The Gospel of Jesus Christ is
the story of Jesus Christ’s life, telling us that who He is, why He came into
this world, who did He came for, etc. However, the Gospel of Jesus Christ is
counted as the Word of God because they both tell us how to live the Kingdom
life and live righteously before Him, since Jesus Christ is the perfect image
of God (Colossians 1:15). Therefore, Jesus Christ
declares,
Why do you call
me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say? As for everyone who comes to
me and hears my words and puts them into practice, I will show you what
they are like. They are like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid
the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but
could not shake it, because it was well built. But the one who hears my words
and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the
ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it
collapsed and its destruction was complete. (Luke 6:46-49)
While we are denying and sacrificing
ourselves for the sake of Jesus and the Gospel, we have to reach up to the
point where we begin to hate everything and everyone else. This does not mean
that we literally have to hate everything and everyone else but it means that
we have to love them less than Jesus Christ. The main reason for this is that
our eternal destiny is depended by God (Mark 10:29-31; Luke 14:25-33). This is probably the main reason why Jesus
declares, “‘Love the Lord your God with
all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the
first and greatest commandment.” (Matthew 22:37-38)
Dear
Lord, help us to cherish and treasure the Kingdom life
As we
are denying and sacrificing ouselves before You daily.
So
that the Kingdom life is impacted by our lives.
Therefore,
we pray:
“Let
Your kingdom come,
your
will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.”
In Jesus’
name, we pray, Amen!
No comments:
Post a Comment