“And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.
For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it.
For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away?” Luke 9:23-25
To deny means to not allow, or to not give or grant something to someone. It also means to decline the gratification of appetites or desires.
An example for this is like when I was very little, probably 4 or 5, and I was at an event with a bunch of free food. They had all sorts of good things to eat, but being a child, I went directly for the sweets, and in this instance, brownies. I loved brownies, and when I saw trays and trays of brownies on a table, they drew me to them like a magnet. One, two, three, I lost count of how many I had that night, but by the time that me and my parents had left and gone home, I had had so many of them that I became very sick with all that I had eaten.
Years later, I still love to eat brownies, but I have learned to stop after two or three. I have learned to deny myself certain things so I don’t overdo it.
And this could apply to just about anything. Someone could be married and have a family, but they love making money working at their job so much that it pulls them away from spending time with their family, and they don’t get to see them very much. For someone to deny themself, they would need to realize that money isn’t worth as much as spending time with your loved ones.
So, we are taught by Jesus that if we are going to follow after Him, we need to deny ourselves the things that we want to do, and instead turn to Him, doing His will.
What is the natural reaction for a person if someone else slapped them in the face? Usually it is to try to retaliate back in some way. But what does Jesus teach us to do? Turn again the other cheek. Render not evil for evil. Instead of avenging ourselves, we need to let God do the avenging.
To deny yourself requires a person to do something that they might not want to do as a person without Christ. But Jesus left us an example how to live, and as Christians we need to follow that example. We need to “take up our cross” and follow Him.
That is what the Apostle Paul did. When Paul was beaten and stoned, and thrown into prison because of his faith in Christ, do you think that those were things that he was excited for? Do you think that he couldn’t wait for the next time to be beaten or flogged? But his faith in Jesus was so great that he continued on preaching. He could have stopped preaching altogether, and go back to his life as a Pharisee, but he didn’t. He took up his cross and followed Jesus.
Paul knew that any sufferings that he would endure would not matter compared to the riches that would await him when he entered into God’s kingdom. He knew that the gift of eternal life was worth more than anything else that he could aquire on Earth. Like the parable that Jesus told in Matthew 13:
“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls:
Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it.” Matthew 13:45-46
Eternal life is the greatest acquisition that anyone could receive, and if someone wants to receive it, they need to let go of their sins, and come to Christ, because in Jesus IS life.
1 John 5:11-12, “And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.”
The gift of eternal life is something that cannot have a price put on. To spend an eternity in the Kingdom of Heaven is the most incredible and awesome thing that anyone could ever attain. It is worth so much, yet it is free. It doesn’t cost a penny. The only requirement is to come to Jesus.
Are you ready to do that? Are you ready to deny yourself, and take up your cross for Christ?
In Christ,
Andrew
Teufer Lake King James Bible Church 