MATTHEW 16:24 – “Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.””

THEME OF THE DAY: IT IS SUPPOSED TO BE HARD.   Here is how I would like my walk with Jesus to be.  I want to be close to Him, make a difference for Him in my world, bear lasting fruit, build a legacy of being like Him, constantly say “no” to temptation to sin, be faithful day in and day out to His Word and prayer, and to live sacrificially loving His people.  And I want to accomplish all of those wonderful aspects of being a Christian without suffering, discomfort, or pain!  Now be honest . . .  so do you. All of us do. We want the benefits of being a Christian without the pain, suffering, or difficulties of being a Christian.

Well, the Christian life is supposed to be hard.  John Calvin said, “For those whom the Lord has chosen and condescended to welcome into fellowship with Him should prepare themselves for a life that is hard, laborious, troubled, and full of many and various kinds of evil. For it’s the will of their heavenly Father to test them in this way so that He might prove them by trials. Having begun this way with Christ, His only-begotten Son, He continues similarly with all His children.”

In today’s scripture, our Lord lays out the non-negotiable requirements if we are to be His followers. And they are hard – very hard, extremely hard, and demand everything we are and have within ourselves.  No, this is not a call to a works salvation, but the call to work out our salvation (Philippians 2:12-13). Let’s break down what Jesus points us to if we are to be His followers.  As we do, remember these are daily requirements to put into our lives and are gut-wrenching calls to sacrifice.

First, the follower of Jesus must consistently say “no” to anything associated with self – “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself”. Our plans, desires, goals, pursuits, and wills must be daily denied and replaced with Christ’s plans, desires, goals, pursuit, and wills. This is warfare. Self does not die easily, and here is the initial requirement to follow Him. Miss this one, and we miss the whole identity as a disciple of the Lord.

Then, the follower of Jesus embraces the suffering life – “If anyone would come after me, let him take up his cross”.  The cost just got higher. Read my opening paragraph again.  We simply are averse to pain and suffering, yet, throughout the scripture, we are told all of God’s children, no exceptions, are called to a life of pain and suffering.  If it was the path our Lord traveled, why would we think it should be different for us? Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German theologian martyred in WW2 by Adolph Hitler wrote, “Suffering is the badge of the true follower.”  As the cross was an instrument of our Lord’s sacrificial death for us, we daily pick up and embrace the cross of His choice for us and the suffering it calls us to as His disciples.

Finally, the follower of Jesus walks the hard road of a life of sacrificial obedience – “If anyone would come after me, let him follow me”.  To follow Jesus is to obey Jesus.  The Christian life is a life of intentional obedience to the Lord’s commands.

Child of God, don’t be surprised at the difficulties in being a follower of Jesus.  It is supposed to be hard, but cling to the truth that the Lord who calls us to this hard life walks with us each step of the way.

PRAYER: Father, forgive me when I want my Christian life to be easy and problem-free.

REFLECTION:  Jesus never promised following Him would be easy, but He did promise to walk with us.