What Have You Given Him Today?
Then Jesus said to the disciples, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must put aside your selfish ambition, shoulder your cross, and follow me. If you try to keep your life for yourself, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for me, you will find true life. And how do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul in the process? Is anything worth more than your soul?”
-- Matthew 16:24-26 (NLT)
What have you given up for Jesus today? Seriously. What have you given up for Him? I’m not talking about fasting. I’m also not talking about the sleep you gave up so you could get up and go to church.
No. What I’m referring to are the ways you’ve changed your life, changed your responses and your attitude, in the days since you’ve given Him your heart. Because if you haven’t given up anything, then I have to wonder if you’ve really given Him your heart.
As Pastor Meghan said yesterday, Jesus basically tells us in this passage of Scripture that we must deny ourselves, pick up the cross and then we get to follow Him. Following Jesus means not holding anything of ourselves back from Him. It’s total surrender. Letting go of everything we thought we valued and giving all of ourselves and all that we have to Him.
The cross is more than a symbol of what Jesus did for us. It is a reminder of what we must do for Him. It is a symbol of discomfort and self-sacrifice, a symbol that we no longer live for our egos, our agenda. Instead, we must hand over our very lives to Jesus for all our days. That’s the message from Pastor Meghan. The question now: Have you done it?
Giving your life to Christ isn’t the end of a journey. It’s the starting point. It’s more than getting a ticket to heaven. It’s about a living relationship transformed from the inside out. That’s what Pastor Meghan reminded us of on Sunday.
I love that term “living relationship.” It’s why we can read the same passage of Scripture we’ve read a hundred times and get something brand new out of it. It’s why we view the “things” of life differently. We are new when Christ comes to live within us. We live life differently.
It’s not easy, this full surrender thing. In fact, it’s downright difficult at times. But it’s necessary and fulfilling and gratifying beyond anything we could every possibly imagine. The possibilities are endless for a life filled with Christ.
So what have you given up today? Worry? Fear? Anxiety? Maybe an extra $20 to help feel the hungry? Your Saturday to help build a home for the homeless? An afternoon teaching children stories from the Bible? The funny thing about what you give up is that you get so much more in return. Laughter. Peace. Fellowship. Happiness. Yeah. You get a deep happiness.
The disciples had no idea what they were giving up or what they were getting when they decided to follow Jesus. None of us do either. But it is a journey worth everything it costs in order to gain everything He gives.
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