The way of Christ is not an easy path to follow. In fact, if you’ve ever read through the four gospels you’ve seen just how many people stop following Christ because of one thing or another. And you probably know that as He hung on the cross, everyone abandoned Him, except for a select few who stayed until the very end. All that to say, it’s not an easy road to walk but it is the road we are called to walk as we follow Christ.
Read Matthew 10:38-39
As we follow Christ we must “take up our cross” and give up our lives. And if we are faithful to do just that, then Jesus says we will find life.
I take this passage as a reminder that I must live a life of sacrifice in response to the sacrifice of Christ. I can’t have it both ways, or said another way; I can’t have my cake and eat it too. I can’t have Christ AND have the ways of the world. I have to choose one or the other. I have to jump in with both feet.
However, the amazing thing about living for Christ and forsaking the world is that as you follow Him you truly find life. I know it sounds crazy to say you’ve got to lose your life to find it, but that’s how it works. You become a new creation with a new eternal destination.
For as hard as it is to be a faithful follower of Christ at times, I’ve got to say that the payoff at the end far exceeds the light and momentary trouble of it all. Becoming a living sacrifice also means you become a new creation. Like a caterpillar transforming into a beautiful butterfly, Christ is in the business of unimaginable transformation.
In 2 Corinthians 5:17 the apostle Paul says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”
When you live all-in for Christ you can say goodbye to the old ways of life. The life you lived in the world “passes away” it dies to make room for your new life in Christ. Almost like an old dead tree falling to the forest floor making room for new life to grow in its place.
So how about it? What might be holding you back today from picking up your cross and following Christ? And if you’re already a believer, but you’re still keeping one foot in the world and one foot in the faith I’d urge you as the Apostle Paul would to consider trading it all and becoming a living sacrifice.
It is after all your spiritual worship. It’s your rational service in light of the indescribable sacrifice that Christ has made.
Joel 2:12 says, “Even now,” declares the LORD, “return to me with all your heart.”
