Jesus just asked His disciples, “Who do the crowds say that I am?” and they answered a prophet, the return of John the Baptist, or Elijah. Jesus went on and asked them, “Who do you say that I am?” and Peter responded, “You are the Christ of God.”
Jesus immediately tells them that He will suffer and die, and will rise again on the third day.
Luke 9:23 Then he said to them all: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.
Wow! Jesus just told them He was going to die, and now he tells His disciples if they want to follow Him, they must be willing to die on a cross no less and be willing to take up the cross daily!
Can Jesus seriously be calling His disciples to be willing to lay down their very lives, I mean every priority of their lives, all their future, and to do this on a daily basis, just to follow Him?
This seems like an incredibly huge sacrifice to follow someone. How could it be possibly worth laying down our lives to follow Jesus?
Jesus goes on to say:
Luke 9:24-25 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it. 25 What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self?
Wow! Just wow! Great question, Jesus, what good is it if we gain everything in this world but lose our very soul? I guess the real question is what is the worth of our soul? Or what is the value of this temporary life, even if we gain all the treasure, power, and pleasure that could ever be given in this life, but our souls are lost for eternity? Can 70 years be compared to 100,000,000 x eternity? And what about the life to come?
Jesus, I am starting to understand what you mean when you say: “For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it.”
When viewed through the lens of eternity, everything this life offers pales in comparison to the promise of eternal life with You. My soul thirsts for Your love, Your forgiveness, Your truth; it yearns for Your acceptance and Your embrace. Following You isn’t just a path; it’s the source of true life, eternal life. The moment I acknowledge my desperate need for You, for Your forgiveness to rescue my soul, I understand that no amount of wealth or power can ward off death, nor can the sum of all my good deeds and kindnesses redeem me. Only You, Jesus, the Messiah sent by God, who sacrificed Himself for my sins, can offer true forgiveness, acceptance by the living God, enduring love, and hope that stretches into eternity. Only You can save my soul.
Luke 9:23 Then he said to them all: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.
Let’s cease our futile attempts to save ourselves; we can’t. Instead, let’s surrender our lives to Jesus, lose ourselves in Him, and find true, eternal life.
