Seasons: Fall — Tuesday
Matthew 16:24
Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.” (NIV)
In yesterday’s text, we saw Jesus administer a miracle that resulted in a radically changed life. Jesus was after life-change in the people He saw around Him. Perhaps the most jarring way He addressed this life change was when He told those who would listen to Him that to follow Him was to come and die. To follow Jesus, you have to die!
The call to take up our cross is a call to die to ourselves. The writers of the New Testament spelled it out after Jesus’ own death, burial, and resurrection. Galatians 2:20, Colossians 3:3, 1 Peter 2:24, and other verses bring to life the reality that to follow Jesus is to categorically change. The door through which you must travel is death—death to self.
Jesus described it as taking up your cross. It’s at this point that I must confess I don’t like this idea. I want the changes that are needed in my life—but without the fear and anxiety that death and the cross conjure up in my mind. To quote the late, great Kobe Bryant, I’m “soft as Charmin.” When it’s cold, I want it warm. When I’m hot, I want the AC. When I’m tired, I want to sleep. When I’m hungry, I want food and want it fast. When there’s strife, I want peace. When there is pressure, I want relief. The quick and easy path to consequential change is not real, though. It is an illusion that Jesus boldly spoke against.
I might grab a Snickers, but it's an unhealthy temporary relief. I may say what someone wants to hear, but it doesn’t resolve the conflict. I can ignore the problem in my marriage hoping it goes away, but it festers and actually gets worse. The path to life is actually death. It is dying to ourselves and living for Jesus, by the power of the Spirit, and to the glory of God.
Fortunately, though the road of following Jesus is difficult, it isn’t one walked alone. Jesus is for us and He’s with us as we follow Him. He said that those that lose their lives for His sake will find them. It’s also a road we don’t have to walk alone.
Tuesday’s Reflection
Here at Southland, we have groups designed to help us walk this difficult path alongside others. If you are following Jesus and it seems lonely, check out our Southland Groups.
