Thursday, December 13, 2012

Luke 9:23


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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