Feb 25: Give to Gain

Mt 16:24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.

At the start of this devotion series, it was made clear that following Jesus was more than just believing in Him. There is an imitation that comes through our following Christ. We follow the examples that He has modelled for us. We reflect the character and nature of Jesus as His follower, as much as we are to demonstrate His power through us. The big question however is: Do we really desire to follow Jesus?

The first step to obtain anything is to desire for it. Some will you have to imagine and see what you want first, before it becomes a reality. Well, in this case there is no need to imagine! Everything that Jesus said and did has been documented in black and white to follow. But without an earnest desire to be like Him, we really cannot be like him. Take a moment to reflect on your desires and likings. What or who occupies your thoughts the most? Is there a deep desire to pursue this relationship with Christ? If yes, good. If not, you may want to think about why that isn’t the case.

The second step is to practice what has been asked of us. Jesus said “if anyone desires.., let him deny himself..”.  The word ‘deny’ is more than just to say ‘no’. It can be expanded as “to restrain (oneself) from gratification of desires”. [1] Interesting to note that there’s the word desire again. And so to deny really means to spend less time satisfying our selfish desires, and spend more time fulfilling the desires of the One we follow – Jesus Christ. Our desires are to be our Lord’s desires. What He wants to do, we should also want to do. What he wishes to say, we should also wish to say. Where He wants to go, we should also want to go.

It really recalls Paul the apostle’s testimony about his relationship with Christ:

“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (Gal 2:20)

After we give up our own desires, the final step in following Christ is to pick up our cross. Many interpretations have been given about what picking up one’s cross involves. For Jesus, the cross was His purpose; it was His end goal; it was His final destination; it was the place where He demonstrated that He really had given up His desire and served the desire of His Father.

I recently heard the story of David Yonggi Cho – the man God used to build the largest church in the world – about how he changed his name from Paul to David in obedience to God’s direction that he had to die to himself. He speaks of how he felt like entire identity was gone, but then how God used that to bring unity amongst the Korean churches. It might have appeared like a simple thing for people on the outside, but for him, changing his name was a cross he had to carry.

Each person will have something unique to give up, as well as something specific to accomplish in this world. Your purpose cannot be accomplished until you are willing to give up that thing that God is asking you to do so. And this is exactly how Jesus concluded his words after asking His disciples to pick up the cross and follow Him:

If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul? (Matt 16:25-26)

In all this giving up, there is something far greater for us to gain. We won’t know all the beautiful things God has kept in store for us, but we can be assured it will be the best. It will be the real deal. And the best part is, it will last forever – literally!! I would be a fool to not give up my earthly temporal gratifications for the sake of heavenly eternal pleasures. And so:

I have decided to follow Jesus.

No turning back. No turning back.

The cross before me, the world behind me.

No turning back. No turning back.

[1] https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/deny