Tag Archives: follow Jesus

Losing your life… And saving it

Leave a reply

 

Luke 9 tells the story of Jesus commissioning the disciples to advance his gospel and fulfill God’s calling on their lives. He told them: “Take nothing for the journey—no staff, no bag, no bread, no money, no extra shirt. Whatever house you enter, stay there until you leave that town. If people do not welcome you, leave their town and shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.” So they set out and went from village to village, proclaiming the good news and healing people everywhere.” (Luke 9:3-6) He continued, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very self?” (V 23-25)

 

It’s tempting to think that was a single event in the history of God’s plan; that it’s different today. But is it? Aren’t we still called to deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow him? What does it mean to you to lose your life for Christ? I don’t know if it means we should all give up everything, but I think it means to consider it all as loss, even our lives and our ambitions. Otherwise, how can we follow in two directions (ours and God’s) at the same time? Following Jesus involves at least holding our possessions loosely, living more simply so our valuable resources can be used for the main event, the telling of His Story, the ongoing passion of his love.

 

When you attend a funeral of a respected friend, are you wowed by the mention of their awards and commendations, their great achievements, or their sizable accumulation of assets? Maybe. Maybe not. More likely, your thoughts turn to their character and the passion of their life that was invested in others.

 

Maybe today you’ll pause to consider everything you’re striving to gain in life, everything you’re pouring yourself into and piling up. It’s an opportunity to consider what’s really worth saving…and what’s going to get tossed aside one day anyway.

 

Jesus called his disciples to live a legacy life. It’s the call he still makes on our lives today if we call ourselves his followers. It’s not to live in comfort in the blissful pursuit of every pleasure. It’s living a powerful life freed by the forgiveness of God for the purpose of following in his steps to shine his light into the world.

 

God’s commission was not just for twelve men in Galilee. His call is for each of us today. Let’s live the call together!

 

Palm Sunday

Leave a reply

Palm Sunday. Everyone loves a parade, don’t they? And they should. After all, this is triumphant Jesus, the King of Kings riding into Jerusalem. So we wave our palm branches and shout our praise, “Hosanna in the highest heaven!” Can you imagine the excitement?! Don’t you wish you could be there?!

Have you ever been a part of a colossal celebration, caught up in the momentous reverie? You probably would wish it could go on and on and last forever. You’d come back everyday, wouldn’t you. Wouldn’t you?

But this celebration of the arrival of Jesus into Jerusalem was short-lived. The crowds soon dissipated. Before the evening was over Jesus would go into the temple courts and assess the conditions, knowing that He would come back to address that situation later. And the days that would follow begs the question of where did all the followers go? How about you? Will you stay up with Jesus during this week of trials, devastation, and then the supernatural event that would change the future forever? Will you follow Jesus this week and not turn back? And each day, no matter what circumstances surround your life proclaim, “And still I will praise you!”

Mark 11:1-11 – As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples, saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and just as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord needs it and will send it back here shortly.’”

They went and found a colt outside in the street, tied at a doorway. As they untied it, some people standing there asked, “What are you doing, untying that colt?” They answered as Jesus had told them to, and the people let them go. When they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks over it, he sat on it.

Many people spread their cloaks on the road, while others spread branches they had cut in the fields. Those who went ahead and those who followed shouted,

“Hosanna!”
“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”
“Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David!”
“Hosanna in the highest heaven!”
Jesus entered Jerusalem and went into the temple courts. He looked around at everything, but since it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the twelve.

The highest of virtues

Leave a reply

 

 

What would you say is the highest of all virtues? CS Lewis contemplated that in his time most would say it is ‘unselfishness’. At the same time he contended that great Christians of the past would have said ‘love.’ And he lamented how a negative term had replaced a positive one.

What do you think of when you consider the word ‘unselfish’? Is it putting others first or is it simply denying ourselves in some sort of regimented way? While self-denial is biblical and profitable for us, it is not an adequate replacement for the virtue of real love, is it? When you fast or give up something you enjoy for a period of time, this is not an end goal. It is a means to a greater goal. Jesus said that if we wanted to be his disciples we must deny our self, pick up our cross and follow him.

Our desires are not the base problem. Repeatedly, God tells us that he longs to give us our hearts desires. He promises unimaginable rewards, in heaven and now. CS Lewis: “It would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.” (The Weight of Glory)

Let’s remember especially in this Lenten season, our ultimate goal is not to give up, but to take on the cross and thus take on the endless love of Jesus.