# 508 - Today's du-votional comes from: Mr 8:34 When He had called the people to Himself, with His disciples also, He said to them, "Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.
The disciples were given the privileged information that Jesus is the Messiah and that the Messiah must suffer, be rejected, and die. But now Jesus invites the people who were nearby to hear what He has to say. This is meant for the ears of all for all time. “Whoever!” No exceptions!
“Whoever desires to come after Me,” the idea being, whoever desires to be attached to Jesus and remain attached to Jesus must do the following three things. Wait a minute “Du-man!” I thought John 3:16 says all I have to do is believe and be saved! This is true, but the bottom line is what does it mean to believe? (See my blog from September 24th, 2010, “What Does It Mean To Believe?”
Belief entails a whole lot more than a mere intellectual assent. As James said in Jas 2:19 You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe--and tremble!”
Many people believe in the existence of God, but unfortunately are not willing to give up on their own way of existing, in other words, they are not willing to say goodby to their old ways. What a pity for as the next verse states, those who want to hang on to the old ways, will ultimately lose their soul.
Mr 8:35 "For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel's will save it.
What a terrible delusion, what a false sense of security it is to say “Lord, Lord, but not live “Lord, Lord!
Father, help us to let go of self, that we may exist in You and for You alone.
No comments :
Post a Comment