“And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it.” Matthew 10:38-39 NKJV
We cannot carry our lifestyle to follow Jesus. So many today want to maintain their status quo. This is really what progressive Christianity is about. The ability to remain relevant with today’s culture and claim a life with Jesus being able to take everything with you. But Jesus said we must take up our cross and follow after him.
What does the cross represent – death (one must die to self), the remission of sins, a new creation, the old things have passed away for the new. It is a shedding of our carnal selves and taking on the spirit of Jesus. It is a sign of loss but also victory.
Jesus says that if we lose our life for His sake we will find it again – we will find a new life in Christ. The old must die. We must let go of those things in our past. We have to let go of our sinful man that only sought to fulfill the desires of the flesh.
Jesus had many followers. Great multitudes would follow Jesus. But they were not truly His disciples. Look at what He says one must do to follow Him:
“And when Jesus saw great multitudes about Him, He gave a command to depart to the other side. Then a certain scribe came and said to Him, “Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go.” And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” Then another of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” But Jesus said to him, “Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead.”Matthew 8:18-22 NKJV
Others would come to Jesus saying they would follow him but wanted to hang on to their lives:
“Now it happened as they journeyed on the road, that someone said to Him, “Lord, I will follow You wherever You go.” And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” Then He said to another, “Follow Me.” But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of God.” And another also said, “Lord, I will follow You, but let me first go and bid them farewell who are at my house.” But Jesus said to him, “No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”” Luke 9:57-62 NKJV
Jesus was talking about people who said they wanted to follow Him. He goes on to say:
“When He had called the people to Himself, with His disciples also, He said to them, “Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.”” Mark 8:34-38 NKJV
Right here Jesus is telling the people what it will cost to follow him. They have to let go of their lives, the things that brought them goodness.
Reflections 