Our verse for this study is Luke 9:23: “And He said to them all, if any man will come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.” Our world, especially the advertisement part of it, keeps reminding us that we deserve the best, therefore we should not deny ourselves of this, or that, product. While I am not against the advertisement world, for many great advertisements point us in good directions concerning certain products or services. My point is not to downgrade the advertisement world, rather it is to show us that we do not always need to be “pampered” by getting what we want! I grew up in an era when times were not too good, and I am living now in times that are not as good as they could be, but that does not mean that I was deprived of the necessities of life, for I was not. My parents made sure that my three siblings and I always had the necessities of life. The problem that has arisen in modern times is that too many people do not understand just what is meant by “the necessities of life”, for some think that the only solution to life’s problems is to get “more of the good things in life”, and to deny anything that might call for a sacrifice on their part.
It is not my words that really paint the right picture here, rather it is the words of our Savior, Jesus Christ. In our verse above we see in its context that Jesus is doing the speaking. His message seems to be primarily to the twelve disciples, but his message is for all who might have some desire to follow Him. His message is that if any would come after Him, they must deny themselves. That word “deny” is almost “extinct” from usage in modern times, for most of the advertisement world keeps telling us that we deserve better than we are getting. Pause for a moment and ask the question: “Could it be that a good percent of the crimes that are done relating to theft, and even murder, may revolve around the idea that the thief, or murderer, deserves better than he, or she, is getting, thus they are going to “make it happen” by committing a crime. Am I “whistling in the dark”, or is it a possibility that many people expect more than they can obtain legally, so they have decided to get what they want any way they can? I grew up in an era when most parents taught their children that it was wrong to do certain things, such as disrespecting others, especially older people; to fail to open doors for older people; to push ahead of others in a crowd; to use wrong language; to be lazy; to talk back to parents, teachers or other people in charge. The list could go on, but the point should be clear.
In Jesus’ words concerning following Him, we see the matter of submission, for those who “follow” are not the “leading persons”. We are being schooled in the idea that no one has any right to ever tell us what to do, and that is wrong, wrong, wrong. I was taught to respect authority, and if I did not, my father had a leather reminder, often called a razor strap! I think you will get the point. Certainly there are many people much younger than I who know many things that I do not know, but that does not relieve them of the responsibility to respect older people. Jesus’ words concerning coming after Him may need more thought, for it is He Who “humbled Himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross”, as Philippians 2:5-8 very clearly shows. No, we do not have to take the idea of: “I am a nobody, so everybody can walk on me”, but we do need to see that if we are to be like Jesus we must learn to serve others, instead of always serving ourselves. By the way, I wonder if the “self-serve” term has anything to do with our attitude in other areas of life. Jesus was, and is, our Master, yet He taught us that even a “Master” can also assume a servant’s position for the sake of a great cause!
By J. Briggs King, Rainsville, AL (678) 451-0921