Matthew 16:24 ¶ Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
Matthew 16:25 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.
The hardest words for most of us I think, for me anyway, are “deny himself.” To take up one’s cross is to die to self. We live in a culture that promotes a focus on pleasing, promoting and profiting self. To deny self and take up the cross of Jesus is to try to live life in accordance with the truth of His word. Luke adds another important word—“take up his cross daily.” For me it is often hourly. To make such a choice is to go against the crowd, to be considered politically incorrect, to be termed intolerant, to be classified as radical, to reject most forms of entertainment, etc. Matthew sums it up this way:
Matthew 7:13–14 “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.”
The key is to keep one’s focus on the eternal rather than on the here and now.
Colossians 3:2 “Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.”
Matthew 6:19–21 “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”
One who finds success in the eyes of the world has gained nothing if he/she hasn’t been redeemed spiritually. What does man have that God will accept as the price of redemption? The obvious answer—Nothing. Only by following Jesus in faith can one be redeemed.
The day is coming when Jesus, the Son of man, will come in all the glory of His Father with His angels to reward every person according to his/her works. Those who follow Jesus will be judged on just that.
John 6:29 “Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.”
In Jesus, we are righteous! There is no charge that can be held to our account.
2 Corinthians 5:21 “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”
Those who choose not to follow Jesus, however, will be judged by their works. To sin in one point of the law is to sin and will result in the verdict—“Guilty.”
James 2:10 “For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.”
Revelation 21:8 “But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.”
