What does Luke 9:23 mean to you? That is the question Brian
Wang asked us the first day of class this week. “If anyone would come after me,
let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” What stands
out most to me in this verse is the word DAILY. God calls us to carry the cross
daily. Not just on Sunday or whenever you make time, but everyday!
Brian broke
this down into 3 things. Self denial, complete dedication, and willing
obedience. He started with self denial.
In Luke 9:23 it says “let him deny himself”. To me this means that we have to
give up our own wants and desires and open our hearts to God’s will and desire
for our lives.
The second part of
following Christ daily is complete dedication. Often times we love Jesus
Christ but we are not always ready or willing to give things up just as Christ
did. Jesus carried his cross and just as Luke 9:23 tells us, we must take up
our cross daily and follow him. Dedication means devoting or setting aside time
for a particular purpose. Brian had us ask ourselves what we are dedicated to.
Are our priorities in the right place? Maybe. But are our RIGHT priorities in
place? To be completely dedicated to following Christ we must make time to
spend in His word daily, and rid ourselves of all distractions so we may better
focus on His calling.
The last part of following God is willing obedience.
There is a difference between being obedient because you have to, and because
you want to. To be obedient means to comply with submission or authority. Brian
asked us “How obedient are you willing to be?” He used the story of Abraham
sacrificing Isaac as an example. No one wants to sacrifice their son, but
Abraham loved God and was completely dedicated to following Him. Because he was
completely dedicated to following God, he was also willing to be obedient and
submit to Him even though Abraham didn’t really want to do what God had asked.
“So Abraham went as the Lord had told him.” Genesis 12:4. We just have to trust
in God’s direction and timing for our life, and to do that we have to be willing
to obey his calling.
I really loved Brian’s talk this week. Considering the
stage on life we are all at, I believe that it was just what we needed to hear.
It is important to me that I know exactly how I am going to successfully follow
the Lord before I get thrown into the crazy world of college. And through self
denial, complete dedication and willing obedience, I believe that I can reach
that goal.
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