Pick up your cross
Today’s text is Mark 8:34-38:
34 And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 35 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it. 36 For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? 37 For what can a man give in return for his soul? 38 For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”
It’s been a while since I posted – sorry about that.
1. Come die with me. (Mark 8:34) Although not popular today – this is the call of Christ on His disciples. Instead of this mantra, we like a “social gospel” which says that you can have “your best life now”. The call of Christ upon a believer is to die to himself. That is the paradox of Biblical Christianity: To live, you must die. You must lay down your life to live. What does this take? Denial of self, and following Christ.
2. Having “your best life now” actually means that you will lose it. (Mark 8:35-36) This truth flies in the face of the properity gospel that is rampant in America. Jesus DID NOT come so that we could “be a better me”, or that we can have a Lexus. The “prosperity gospel” is no gospel at all, and actually makes a mockery of the cross of Christ.
3. To not die to self is to be ashamed of Christ. (Mark 8:37) Implied in the context of this passage, we see the truth that these are mutually exclusive. That is – if you seek to “save your life”, (have your “best life now”), you actually are ashamed of the Gospel, and of Christ. Why is this? Because our standing before God is in Christ alone – that is – in the finished work of Jesus on the cross. To add to this Gospel, to take away, or to pervert it means that we are ashamed of it.
Meditation: Is my “fire” burning for the glory of God? Will I deny myself today? Is there a situation today that I need the mind of Christ on?
This entry was posted on Monday, November 3rd, 2008 at 9:14 am and is filed under Devotional. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
