deny yourself, pick up your cross, and follow Him.
Before fully giving my life to Christ I did not deny myself any “good” thing. I was honestly indulging in almost everything you could think of.
Did I have fun? Sometimes.
However the real questions should be:
Was there peace? Not at all.
Was there true lasting joy? Not even a bit.
Did my life have meaning? Nope.
I said to myself, “Come on, let’s try pleasure. Let’s look for the ‘good things’ in life.” But I found that this, too, was meaningless.
Ecclesiastes 2:10 NLT
Living your life for God is hard, but just because it’s hard doesn’t mean it isn’t God. The solace and the peace He promises (one I can attest to) in coming to Christ is unmatched.
All the “good” things that life has to offer pales in comparison to the abundance you will have in the Kingdom of God.
For the Kingdom of God is not a matter of what we eat or drink, but of living a life of goodness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.
If you serve Christ with this attitude, you will please God, and others will approve of you, too.
Romans 14:17 NLT
“Serve Christ with this attitude.” What does ‘this’ mean? I like the way the MSG version puts it
God’s kingdom isn’t a matter of what you put in your stomach, for goodness’ sake. It’s what God does with your life as he sets it right, puts it together, and completes it with joy. Your task is to single-mindedly serve Christ….
Romans 14:17-18 MSG
You receive joy, peace, and righteousness by accepting God.
So, what is holding you back from single-mindedly serving Him?
It’s crazy how I would willingly put myself through hardships, distress, and sleepless nights out partying or studying. But now that I’m in Christ and He is calling me, as I’m sure He is calling you, to go through the hardship of refining your character, the distress of putting your flesh (carnality) into subjection, and sacrificing an hour of sleep to pray in the morning, we can become hesitant, and maybe even say “it doesn’t take all of that”.
But.. what if it does?
“Deny yourself and pick up your cross.” He meant leave it all and follow Him daily.
If we don’t want to labor for the cause of Christ but we want to hear “Well done good and faithful servant.” there is something wrong. Servants must serve.
I urge you, as God is urging me, to take this as an encouragement as you aren’t serving out of your own strength, (Philippians 2:3). The King of Kings has called you to a higher calling, and He wants to spend time with you! The one who loves you with an everlasting love, who predestined you, who holds the keys to the grave wants you to follow Him with everything because He has already given you His everything. Take the call and press on, He will never turn away a heart that wants to come to Him no matter where you are at in life.
We serve God whether people honor us or despise us, whether they slander us or praise us. We are honest, but they call us impostors. 9 We are ignored, even though we are well known. We live close to death, but we are still alive. We have been beaten, but we have not been killed.
2 Corinthians 6:8-10 NLT
10 Our hearts ache, but we always have joy. We are poor, but we give spiritual riches to others.
We own nothing, and yet we have everything.
“We give Thee but Thine own”
joy-full 