Living the Jesus Wayনমুনা

In today’s main passage of Matthew 16, Jesus outlines three key steps to becoming a disciple; ‘deny yourself’, ‘take up your cross’, and ‘follow me’.

The word deny can sound harsh to our ears.

It can conjure up images of depriving yourself of the little luxuries in life you love.

Perhaps denying yourself to your ears sounds like thinking less of yourself, taking a lowly place so God can take a high place.

The truth is you know how to deny yourself because at some point you would have had to.

Perhaps you have studied or currently studying. To achieve the results, you want to achieve you would have had to say no to some things to say yes to achieving your grades.

Denying yourself isn’t thinking less of yourself it's saying no to yourself and yes to God.

It’s saying no to your way and yes to His.

This, by the way, isn’t a one-time deal.

When you dig into the text in Greek the tense is continual meaning it’s saying continually deny yourself. It’s not one big decision. It’s 1000 little decisions that you have to make every day.

Take up your cross. The disciples hearing this teaching then would have known that the cross was a symbol of pain and death. It’s how Jesus ultimately died. It’s horrific.

This is not our fate for our faith in the 21st century. But the symbolism is not lost, because Jesus is saying here to all people who want to become disciples past, present, and future, are you willing to face opposition?

Are you willing to experience the pain of rejection?

Are you willing to die pursuing what your culture is telling you to pursue and follow me instead?

There is a sacrifice and just like with denying it is a continual tense, meaning the call is to carry your cross daily, not just a one-time deal.

Follow me. The invitation to follow is to stay one step behind Jesus. Not from a distance or distracted but ‘do as I do’. Focused on the moves He makes and the steps He takes.

“…for whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.”

When the disciples were called to follow Jesus, they all left behind something or someone. It cost them. For Simon, his name was changed. Their whole identities were lost to the world and found a new in Christ.

When John went to follow Jesus, he let go of his fishing nets, and he was never a fisherman again.

When Matthew left to follow Jesus, he left his tax booth, and he was never a tax collector again.

When you made the decision to believe in Jesus, you became a new creation. So if you want to become a disciple of Jesus, it’s time to stop dragging your old life around.

As you complete today’s readings, take the time to reflect on how you can best live the Jesus way and what may need to change in your life as you put into practice denying yourself, taking up your cross, and following closely.