Save Your Life or Lose It� (Matt 16:24-25)

Jesus calls all people to follow him. He came to the earth to be the Saviour of all who would believe on him. As he taught here on the earth, he told his disciples he was going to suffer and die. As he taught about his coming suffering and death, he told his disciples they too would need to suffer because of their belief in him. He said, “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me” (Matt 16:24). This means that if we are planning to follow him to the kingdom, we must disown ourselves and give up everything to follow him. The apostle Paul says in Galations 5:24,25 that those who belong to Jesus have nailed their evil desires to his cross and crucified them there. Paul warns in Ephesians 4:17 that we should not continue to live like the heathen.

As Christians, this is a voluntary giving up of our own wants and desires. We will submit to his will for our lives. We must be willling to forsake everything we have, to follow him. As we live in our communities as Christians, our neighbours may make fun of us because our lives are different from theirs. We are different, and our holy lives may condemn them. There are many ways that people can mistreat us because we are Christians; we must return good for evil and not resist them.

Jesus said in his sermon on the mount that we are not to fight back but must be willing to suffer for Jesus’ sake (Matthew 5:43-45). Not all Christians are persecuted, but as we live, we must be willing to take what comes, if we are mistreated because we are Christians. The apostle Paul tells us to offer our bodies to God as living sacrifices because of what He has done for us (Romans 12:1) We may not be called to suffer as Christians but we must be willing to suffer if the call comes.

But this offering of our bodies as sacrifices is not only bodily suffering but a giving of our lives to God as well. We show God that we are avoiding sin and using our bodies in His service. How do we each give our body as a living sacrifice? We do this by allowing Jesus to rule our lives (2 Corinthians 5:17). As a living sacrifice, each body must not be used for sinning but must be set apart for God, and put to right and holy uses.

In Luke 9:23, Jesus says we must deny ourselves and take up our cross daily, or all the time, and follow him. We can do this only by wanting to please Jesus and to be more and more like him.

Bro. Thomas Radido (Mombasa, Kenya)