I wrote a post awhile back about why just believing in God just isn’t enough (link) and that post just wasn’t long enough. That post doesn’t even begin to crack the surface of what the bible has to say about this topic. I can literally go on and on but I’ll try my best to keep this part short. In my first post, I went through and explained why only believing in God just isn’t enough. Belief in Jesus is the first step, but it isn’t the final step when it comes to this walk with the Lord. In this post, I want to focus on two verses, Luke 9:23-24 (ESV). Luke 9:23 says, “And he said to all, “if anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.”” Jesus carried the cross that he would later die on. The cross isn’t only a symbol of hope, but it is also a symbol of death. As believers, in order for us to truly carry our cross, we must deny ourselves and die to our flesh DAILY. To take up our cross means to carry it to our death, the death of our flesh and our old sinful nature. Jesus was telling His disciples that, in order for them to truly follow Him, that they must put aside all of their plans and desires for His plans and desires. The word deny here in Greek is aparneomai (ä-pär-ne'-o-mī). This means to disown or to forget one’s self, lose sight of one’s self and one’s own interest. Jesus also says “follow me”. Follow here in the Greek is akoloutheō (ä-ko-lü-the'-ō) which means to join one as a disciple, to be in the same way with. A disciple is someone who takes on the teachings of another or the ways of someone else. In order to truly follow Jesus, you must take on the ways of Jesus and be transformed into who He was on this earth. To do this you must know who Jesus was in the first place. This is why is it so vital to study the scriptures for yourself and have personal relationship with the Father through Jesus Christ. Luke 9:24 says, “For whoever would save his life will lose it but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.” In the last verse, we saw that in order to follow Jesus, we must not only believe in Him but we must also truly follow Him. John 3:16 says that those who believe in Jesus shall not perish but have everlasting life. Believe means to accept something as true. Believing in Jesus is to come into full agreement with everything that Jesus is and everything that He teaches. To believe in Jesus is to also follow Him. For example, if we believe that our bodies will change by good diet and exercise, then we will put that belief into action and begin to eat healthy and workout. This is what God wants us to do, He wants us to put our belief into action.
Lose here in the Greek is apollymi (ä-po'l-lü-mē). This means to destroy fully, to render useless, to abolish, to kill. If we refuse to live for God and decide to live for ourselves and for the things of this earth, then our lives will be lost. They will be lost not only in the sense that your God given purpose was never fulfilled, but also literally in the fact that you will lose your life in Heaven with the Father. On the opposite end of this, we see that the one who loses His life for Christ’s sake will be saved. This means that when we destroy fully and render useless ourselves and our old ways for the ways of the Father, then our lives will be saved and we will be made holy and righteous in the sight of the Lord. It means that we will have a life in Heaven with the Father. The Father doesn’t just want us to believe in Him, He also wants us to live for Him. Living your life for the Lord is one of the greatest things you could ever do. Don’t let a person, society, culture, or satan let you think otherwise. Life in Christ is freedom. Life in Christ is love. Life in Christ is acceptance. Everything that you are looking for is found in Christ. THERE IS LIFE IN THE CHRIST! Give Him a try. My LITERAL mood after writing this post: LOL.
-Until next time
1 Comment
S Wimberly
7/6/2018 10:25:29 pm
Just read this. Inspirational.
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