This
week we had the great privilege of hearing from Brian Wang. He is one of our directors here at the Link
Year, and also potentially one of the funniest and sweetest men alive. (Shout out to his wife Autumn, for being the
only one to actually read this) This
week he spoke about Luke 9:23 which says
"And He said to all, "if anyone would come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow me."
He
began by describing our lives as a balancing act. We are constantly trying to figure out how to
fit everything in. Between all of our
commitments, getting things done for school, or even just around the house, and
spending endless hours on social media, we often forget to make time for the
one thing that should be the most important to us; our relationship with
God.
Think
about water… It is really REALLY hot at 211°, but it does not boil until it
reaches 212°. That one degree will come
eventually, but it is a process. It
takes time. What can we do to increase
our spiritual 'temperature' up that last little bit? What areas can we improve in to turn it up
that one last degree? Whether you think you can, or you think that you can't,
you are right. The only way we can get
what we've never had is to do what we've never done. We need to work to get that one last degree
in our lives to reach our boiling point.
Following Christ isn't always easy, but are we going to give up because
things get hard? No, we push through,
and grow closer and closer to our Father in heaven because of it.
There
are three steps to following Christ as laid out in Luke 9:23; self-denial,
complete dedication, and willing obedience. But first, we must look at who he
is directing this to. The verse says He
said to ALL. Not just to some, or to the
believers, or the Jews. ALL.
"Let him deny himself…"
Self-denial is the conscious choice we make to please God rather than pleasing
our human nature. It is NOT easy. It stretches us, and it hurts. God knows our end result, and he knows how to
get us there. He will push us HARD to
get there. Christ may call us to give up
things we aren’t willing to loose, but because we are in full submission to
Him, we are called to give up everything and run to him.
“…take up his cross daily…” Complete
dedication to Christ is to focus only on pleasing the Lord, not ourselves, and
certainly not others. Our purpose is not
to show anyone anything except for the Lord.
Examine your life; what are you dedicated to? Maybe a sports team, a club, school, or a
job. Are you committed to the Lord? When’s the last time you put as much time and
effort into a bible study as you do for a school project or test? We will one
day be able to look back and see all that the Lord has done in our lives. 1 Corinthians 9:27 says, “Every athlete
exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable
wreath, but we an imperishable.” We are
too often focused on perishable rewards; the temptations of NOW. If we can’t discipline ourselves, then the
world will win. We need to strive to
earn the imperishable rewards that God offers to his good and faithful
servants.
“…and follow me.” Willing Obedience as a follower gives us
an appeal as a leader. The definition of
the word follow is to accept as guide or leader, accept the authority of, or
give allegiance to. When we follow
Christ, we are accepting him as our leader, and giving our allegiance to
Him. If we can set our pride aside, and
follow for a change, people will be drawn to us because we are looking for the
best interest for everyone. Obedience is
defined as a willingness to obey, or to comply with submission to
authority. Obedience builds trust, and
you can only lead those who trust you.
When you are willing to be obedient, God can use you in incredible
ways. We looked at the story of
Abram/Abraham. In Genesis 12:1-4, God
calls Abram to leave everything that he has and move. In chapter 22, God has finally given Abraham
his promised son, and is now asking him to sacrifice him. Now, keep in mind, his wife Sarah did not get
pregnant until she was 95 years old.
They waited a long time for this promised son, and now, God was asking
him to kill him. But because Abraham was
willingly obedient to God, he woke up early (when does anyone ever do that
willingly?), and went to a place so far away it took him three days to walk
there…all along knowing that the journey would end with him murdering his own
son. You probably know the story… Just
as they had built the altar, and strapped his son down to be slaughtered, God
stopped him and provided a ram to be slain in place of Isaac, his son. Abraham was obedient to God, and God provided
for him. Abraham became the father of
many nations because he was willingly obedient to God.
When
we develop an eternal time perspective, and continually strive for the finish
line and our imperishable wreath, we will be living a life worthy of the title
of Disciple of Christ. By doing those
three things, we will learn to be true followers of our savior Jesus
Christ. Not to say that it is easy, or
even fun…it won’t be. But the rewards
will be great. Most importantly, we will
be living lives that are pleasing to God. The only way to get what you've never had is by doing what you've never done.
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