Matthew 16:24-27 Then Jesus told his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. 26For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul? 27For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay each person according to what he has done.
Lately I have been challenged with and over and over again reminded that following Christ while extremely rewarding is not easy. We live in a culture where if we want something all we have to do is take a pill for it, charge it to a credit card or have the government bail us out, instead of saving for it, working hard, maybe breaking a sweat and actually having to earn something. As a result we miss the joy and reward that comes from the effort that we put into it and we get stuck just wanting more and believing that we deserve it. Sadly the same thing happens in many who claim to follow Christ, they want the benefits of following Christ, like overcoming sin, experiencing joy and satisfaction. Jesus in His exhortation here in the book of Matthew speaks to the fact that following Christ is work and sacrifice. Just like losing weight and exercise is tough the end results are amazing. So it is with Christ and a relationship that we work at throughout our lives. I must understand that to experience joy, to experience overcoming sin takes a daily surrender of my life to Christ (denying myself), being broken and humble (taking up the cross) and pursuing a relationship with Christ (follow me). Today my prayer is that I would experience all that a relationship with Christ offers.
Father today as I pursue a relationship with you help me to surrender to you and experience just how awesome it is to follow after you.
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