Perhaps I need to give my verse from Luke 9:23 again: 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.” I have not made this point in the earlier articles on this subject, so I will say that Jesus was speaking to all of His twelve disciples, although the message never came through to Judas, as is the fact with many others who hear His words from the Scriptures. Even though it seems only the twelve disciples were with Jesus, the message to all of them will also fit any others who might “come after” Jesus, or seek to follow Him. The very words: “Come after Me” show clearly that Jesus is taking the front, and most dangerous, position, for leaders often face difficulties that their followers may not have to confront. When Jesus used the words “any man”, He was seemingly going beyond the twelve disciples to include anyone who might have a desire to follow Him. To follow Jesus meant to share, at least in some sense, the denials that Jesus encountered, as He told the masses about the Father and His plan to redeem lost humanity. It seems even in our day that many people never pick up on the point that Jesus’ desire was not primarily to heal the sick, but rather to save the lost. After all, if one is sick for a lifetime and yet is a child of God, he really has it made, as far as eternity is concerned. On the other hand, Jesus said that if one should gain the whole world and lose his own soul, what would he give in exchange for his soul? (See Matthew 16:26.)
Now we come to the gist of my title above concerning the matter of denying oneself. This is not an easy task, thus the masses of the world seem to know little or nothing about it. Hardly any advertisement, if any at all, ever gives the idea of self-denial, for that is not “positive” enough to be included in an advertisement to sell a product. I am not saying that it is wrong to display the good qualities of a product, for it is not, but I am saying that most products may not “measure up” to all that is claimed for them. I am also thinking that Jesus never told anyone that to follow Him would be a picnic! It is not easy for any of us to deny ourselves, thus most of us seem to know little about self-denial. We know much about “our rights”, and that “somebody has done me wrong”. Even though we do have certain “rights”, at least as far as humanity and personal relationship are concerned, but there are times when we need to “lay down our rights” and make a sacrifice for the benefit of others. After all, this is exactly what Jesus did in dying for our sins, for He had no sins of His Own!!! My worst enemy is “self”, and I wonder if I can get an “amen” for any of my readers. Most of us do not set out to do the wrong thing, or to fail to do the right thing; it is just that the right thing often costs us more than we are willing to pay! I keep mentioning this in my writing, but I am going to say again that I am glad my daddy taught my siblings and me to work. Dad grew up during the depression years, having been born in 1916, thus he knew what hard times were. He was never unreasonable with the four of us children, but he was strict and exact in what he expected, yet loving and good to all of us. It is not necessarily a “mark of real love” for any parent to seek to keep his, or her, children from facing any difficulties in life, for we learn how to live through learning how to face and overcome difficulties. Suppose a football coach should tell his players: “Now you do not need to worry your little heads concerning this game, for there will be no difficulties involved in it.” I do not believe any coach has ever used those words, unless in a joke. So why do we often suppose that living the Christian life should be as easy as “falling off a log”?
By J. Briggs King, Rainsville, AL (678) 451-0921