Matthew 16:24-26
24 Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. 26 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?”
I imagine that if you’re readying this over email, you probably won’t have a chance to look up Matthew 16. So here’s snapshot context: Jesus is with his disciples, they’ve been traveling around, and Jesus has just told Peter to “get behind me, Satan” because Peter was setting his mind on the things of man instead of God (basically, Peter had told Jesus not to die and rise from the dead. Bad call, man.). The order of these exchanges in Matthew’s Gospel is significant. How in the world can we deny ourselves (difficult), take up our cross (more difficult) and follow Jesus (most difficult)? The answer was given first. We must continually forsake the things of man and return to the things of God. This is 100% a lifelong journey. What are these things of man that Jesus is referring to? I’d include things like: career, money, education, entertainment, sports, leisure, sex, family, etc. None of those things are bad. Peter’s desire for Christ to not have to die also wasn’t bad. If Peter was walking around wishing death on people, I’d certainly hope Jesus would have dropped him from the twelve. But this is reality: the good is the enemy of the best. I’m praying towards a One Day moment for myself and our church where we become a people who are known for setting our minds on the things of God.
Lord Jesus, I want to be known for setting my mind on the things of God. I recognize that God saw fit to take you, Jesus, up to heaven, and to send us Our Helper, the Spirit. So Holy Spirit, give me a desire for the things of you. Cause the things of man to fall away. And give me the ability, in your strength, to deny myself, take up my cross, and follow You. In Jesus’ name, Amen.