And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it.” Mark 8:34-35
Jesus uses the language of the cross even before going to the cross. After teaching plainly that he must die, he then tells his disciples and the crowd that if they want to follow him they too must lose their lives. Not literally (though many of those following Jesus would be killed, especially those closest to him), but continually. A day-in and day-out denying of self and taking up one’s “cross”.
We are faced with two choices. We either maintain or release ownership of our life. Releasing ownership of our life to follow Christ, ultimately saves our life. We exchange our life here and now for life eternal. The alternative is to retain ownership of our life now. But as Christ warns, to do so means to lose our life for eternity.
The decisions we make every day speak to which way we have chosen. We may say that we follow Christ, but if our life is not one of denial and cross-baring then I am afraid we have deceived ourselves. To follow Christ, every decision in our life matters because our life no longer belongs to us. Everything. Even the seemingly smallest details of our life. Especially the seemingly smallest details of our life.
If our lives look too much like the lives of everyone else around us, then we may be in danger of having chosen life here and now. What excites us? What are the things we think about? How do we spend our time? How often do we make decisions based on submission to Christ and his word? Our answers to these questions are a good indicator of which way we have chosen.
Oh that Christ would continually be in our thoughts and hearts and on our tongues. That the pursuit of him would be our greatest pleasure in life. That we would humbly follow him all our days by laying down our lives and picking up our cross. God help us choose life eternal!
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