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.”
If you are going to follow Jesus, He requires that you deny yourself. (Wow! This is HARD – it’s up there on the top of the list of difficult things to do in life!) From the time that we are born we seek to satisfy ourselves. Jesus said if we want to follow Him, we must not allow self to control us or our decisions.
Our first consideration should always be – what does God desire that I should do? Do the decisions that I make line up with His Word?
I can think of many ways that self and obedience to God are in conflict. We face these choices every day. Think about which ones win out in your life. We know that there are certain areas that are definitely in the “I should do – because it pleases God” category. Such as:
- Spend time in the Bible every day.
- Pray for others and self.
- Be a witness for Jesus.
- Be in church when church is in session.
- Live godly lives – choose right over wrong.
- Be…this list can go on and on. I’m sure you get the picture.
We must decide if these areas take top priority in our lives or do we allow them to be crowded out by the desires of ‘self’? Jesus says if we are to be a true ‘follower’ of His, we must deny ourselves and put God first. How do you measure up!
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