Luke 9:23 And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me.
As I come to the Lord’s Supper table this morning, I am reminded that there are only two commands that believers are given which Jesus also did, that we are to do: Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Both of these are acts of obedience, testaments to the new life of the believer and obvious outward signs of a claim to discipleship. The question I have of myself this morning is, “am I really following Christ on His terms or mine?”
I read Luke 9:23, and it reminds me of three truths that I really find hard to swallow. First, to be a true follower of Christ, I must live a life of self denial. Not that there are things which I must necessarily give up, but that if He calls me to give up anything, then His will be done. Its about what He wants; what He is like; how He would live.
Second, I must live a life of humility. There was nothing more humiliating in the Roman world than death on a cross. The Romans had intentionally made this form of execution as humiliating, painful, and lasting as they could. I am to crucify the prideful self and life in abject poverty when it comes to pride.
Finally, I am to simplyand faithfully live a life of obedience. Followship is all about obedience. Sin is its antithesis. Therefore, I need to be in constant confession and repentence over sin, seeking to make my life look more like Christ’s.
As I approach the table this morning, I am examining my life to see how it measures up…and it doesn’t but I confess and repent and I thank God for His grace and mercy.
Luke tells us (14:33) that if we are not willing to denounce everything we have (family, friends, possessions, even our own will), that we cannot be disciples of Christ. There is more to discipleship than commitment to church attendance, to ministry, to worship or events/programming. The decision for real descipleship is much more demanding…total abandonment of ourselves.