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Thursday, March 15, 2012 |
Christianity is not all about you
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34He called the crowd with
his disciples, and said to them, “If any want to
become my followers, let them deny themselves and
take up their cross and follow me. 35For those who
want to save their life will lose it, and those who
lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the
gospel, will save it. 36For what will it profit them
to gain the whole world and forfeit their life?
37Indeed, what can they give in return for their
life? 38Those who are ashamed of me and of my words
in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them
the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in
the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”-Mark
8: 34-38
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This is one of
those passages that every Christian
should know by heart. If you want
to understand what it means to be a
Christian, then learn this passage.
The great German theologian
Dietrich Bonhoeffer paraphrased this
passage thus, "when Christ calls a
man, he bids him come and die."
Later, Bonhoeffer was murdered by
the Nazis because he had been a part
of a conspiracy to assassinate
Hitler. So he was serious.
Does that mean
that you, today, are being called to
literally die? And what is your
cross to bear? These are key
questions for us so let me address
them in order. The answer to the
first question is an unequivocal
"yes." Yes, you are being called to
die. But not necessarily in the way
you think. At my conference this
week we were in worship and we doing
a litany (there were a lot of
litanies) and in it we were
encouraged to pray for areas of our
life which God needs to "trouble."
In other words, there are areas of
our lives where we need death. We
need to die to all areas of our
lives which separate us from God.
Consider that for a moment.
Then consider your cross. Let me tell you what your
cross is not, and you will hear more about this on
Sunday. It is NOT a disease, a financial hardship,
an addiction, an unhealthy relationship or anything
of the sort. These are bad things which
happen to you. Your cross is a ministry or service
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you take up in your desire to follow
Jesus, and it may be an incredible burden for some or a moderate
inconvenience for others, but we are all called to carry it. It
is the sacrifice you make to serve Christ. Since this is longer
than most e-votionals,
I am going to stop now, but don't forget,
Christianity is not all about you.
Prayer: Holy God, please help me to find
the cross you wish me to bear in my life, and help me to carry
it. I want to follow and serve you and I want to hasten the
kingdom of God. I pray in Jesus' name. Amen.
[Phillip Blackburn, First Presbyterian Church]
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