Then Jesus said to
his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves
and take up their cross and follow me.
Luke 9:23-24
And he said to all, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself
and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will
lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.
Jesus said that His followers were to deny themselves. Deny-disown,
reject, disavow
In Luke 9:24, Jesus said that his follower should not fight
to save his life, but be willing to lay his life down. The Greek word for life
there is –psuche, which is the mind, soul, person, inside, not physical life.
God is saying die. Die to all you think you want, and trust
Me.
We think that we have certain rights. We feel that we
deserve a certain kind of treatment. We
expect that we will have certain things, a certain life-style. When we don’t
experience the life that we think we deserve or have the right to have, we
become angry, or hurt, or sad, depressed, unhappy, disappointed.
Basically, it is all a matter of trust. Do I trust God to
care for my soul, to meet all of my needs, to be the fulfillment of all of my
desires?
God is calling us to surrender-a surrender that is final, so
much that we would not lift our heads in defense or protest.
Jesus said, follow me, and live just as I live.
Php 2:4-8 Let each of you look
not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.
Have this mind among
yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of
God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied
himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled
himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
Jesus lived his life willing to fully obey the father,
whatever that meant, becoming a servant, even dying. Jesus is God. He chose to
lay down His rights. He chose to be misunderstood by the world to the point of
being brutally killed. And He is still God.
Jesus calls us to live the same kind of life.
He is saying, “You
know me, you know how I lived”. You do the same. I’ll help you and fill you. I
will show you when and where to lay down your rights. Let’s start with your
life, your expectations, your money, your family’s approval, your right to a
family, your right to be successful, your right to have the things that you
need. If you die to all of this, Jesus says, I will do things greater than you
ever hoped, dreamed, or imagined. It may not be in this life. We may not see our dreams fulfilled in this
life, but there will be a day when everything is right, and good, and beautiful.
How is this practical? When and how are we to die?
1.
Our dreams. Children dream. And that is not bad.
It is good to have dreams. As a child, what kind of life did you dream of? Are
you living that dream? Does the loss of that dream cause you to be unhappy,
unsettled, or discontent?
2.
Our rights. We think that we have, as our
constitution says, certain inalienable rights; life, liberty, and the pursuit
of happiness. What are some rights that you believe you have?
How do you react when you feel that your
rights are violated?
3.
Our pride. This is the source of so much
trouble. I do not like to be corrected, especially over really trivial things.
Why? Pride. When I am spoken to disrespectfully, I become offended. Why? Pride.
Sometimes pride looks like humility. Why would we not want to say or do
something that we think would embarrass us? Pride. What are the areas where
pride causes problems in your life?
4.
Our beliefs. Not the foundational truths of the
Bible. But the things we believe because that is what we have always believed,
what our parents taught us, what we learned in Sunday school, sometimes just
what we made up in our own minds. We are often quick to shut someone out who
says something we disagree with. What beliefs are you holding onto when God may
be teaching you a new truth?
5.
Our traditions. We love our traditions, and that
is ok, unless we hold them too tightly. If we get angry or hurt when our
traditions are questioned, then we need to die to them. What traditions are so
important to you that you are willing to fight over them?
6.
Our desires. We want things. Some of those are
good. We want healthy relationships. We want spouses. We want children. We want
a job. We want a decent place to live. Sometimes we want a bigger house, a
better spouse, a new car. Our wants tend to escalate. It is human nature to
always want something more, something better, and something bigger. Eventually,
we have to die to our desires. Even sometimes those good, basic desires. We may
have to say, I want a spouse, but God has not provided one, so, until and
unless God works in that area, I am willing to just let that go. What desires do you have in your life that
you need to lay down? Are you unhappy or not content because you don’t have
something that you desire?
Jesus wants our dignity to come from Him.
He wants to be the fulfillment of every desire we have. He wants to teach us
and lead us. Christ willingly lay down His life, and nothing was taken from Him
that He did not willingly give, even His life on the cross. There is strength
and intention in humility. Whatever attack or injustice I might perceive,
however slow the grocery lines or however false some slander, letting it wash
over me without a fight, looking past my offender and at my God, is radical but
the most powerful path to freedom.
Freedom is found in:
Allowing God to defend me, even if that
means I don’t see it until heaven.
Accepting that life is not right and fair
now, but it will be.
Loving instead of defending or fearing or
entitlement.
Embracing my faults, rather than proving my
point.
Releasing other’s perceptions and
understandings of me, and holding on to God’s, since He knows my heart.
Embracing the death of my rights and
desires, and receiving His will for me.
Jesus said we are to take up our cross and follow Him. We
have no literal crosses. We don’t carry around crosses. A cross doesn’t
represent suffering. A cross represents death. The point of the cross was
death. Jesus calls us to die.
Why would I choose to die? Because life is not about me.
Because this world is not my home. Because I’m tired of defending myself, and
because the God of the Universe is my defender. Because it is through this
death that I experience true life. Jesus said that He came to give us abundant
life. We experience that life when we are willing to die. That is the path to
real life, real joy, and real peace.
It boils down to trust. Can I let go of all my dreams,
desires, ambitions, needs, my rights, my dearly held beliefs that might not be
true…can I let go of all of that and trust that God is better, His way is
better? Can I trust Him to fulfill my deepest needs for fulfillment, for
affirmation, for deep heart joy and peace?
If I fully trust my God to meet my every need, then I can
lay down my life to His care.
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