Here we come to the place where the internal must now become external. Denying oneself is easy to do internally; however, taking up a cross and following the Savior is much more difficult to hide. Too many of us Christians are playing “Hide the Savior.”
If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. (matthew 16:24)Here we come to the place where the internal must now become external. Denying oneself is easy to do internally; however, taking up a cross and following the Savior is much more difficult to hide. Too many of us Christians are playing “Hide the Savior.” It is the game where we live our lives hiding our faith to the best of our abilities. Being a Christian means something! God did not waste His time saving those He whom He saved. It was not a waste of Christ’s blood on Calvary to purchase our redemption. It is a waste when those who have been saved from such a horrible destruction hide and deflect the fact that they are redeemed individuals.
Discipleship with Christ begins at salvation. It is then the duty of every Christian to draw close to Him, to learn of Him, to mimic Christ. Discipleship demands sacrifice. Deny yourself – you sacrifice your wants and desires. Take up your cross – you sacrifice your own comfort and way. Follow Christ – you sacrifice doing it your way and coming after Him to learn how to do live His way.
Example: “As they were going along the road, someone said to Him, ‘I will follow You wherever You go.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.’ And He said to another, ‘Follow Me.’ But he said, ‘Lord permit me to go and bury my father.’ But He said to him, ‘Allow the dead to bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim everywhere the kingdom of God.’ Another also said, ‘I will follow You, Lord; but first permit me to say goodbye to those at home.’ But Jesus said to him, ‘No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.’” [Luke 9:57-62 NAS]
How many times have we said, “Lord, I’ll follow you once my life is the way I want it to be.”? The truth of the matter is that we all have done so. We often choose to do what we want. When that does not work out, then we “humble” ourselves to do what God wants us to do. How do I know? Because I am part of the “We” just like you.
God’s Church in America and other countries is faltering. We have become so accustomed to the affluence in our country that we have forgotten what it was that we have been saved and called to do. We have been called to give God glory by the actions that we take. Following Christ to learn of Him and His ways is the avenue that we must take to bring God glory. Following Christ is not easy. Taking the time to sit down and study God’s Word and to pray and then to implement what we learn from His Word is not always convenient for us. But, from what Scripture says, Being a disciple of Christ Jesus is not convenient!
What will you do? Being a full blown, radically committed Christian is not what the world wants to see. However, being a full blown, radically committed Christian is exactly what God calls you and me to be. What will you do?
