Matthew 16: 24

24Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.

Ok, so here we are again with Jesus preaching to the disciples, but this time, he has their full attention, coz he has just shouted at Peter for not seeing beyond the human limits, at what God is capable of. So anyway - You must deny yourself and take up the cross of Jesus so that we can follow Christ. What exactly does this mean? How do we deny ourselves?

Basically, it is not just enough to absent mindedly admit to christ as messiah, we need to do a bit more....we must, a fundamental must, understand what Jesus did for us, which is suffered and died for us. For a human (forgetting religion for a moment) death is the final thing. Death is something that comes to all of us, some being young and some being old, it is something we all have to endure. (Now back to religion.) Jesus came to earth as a human, as fully human as you could be. He didnt have super powers etc, he merely had a perfect relationship with his father, our father, in heaven, which is how he performed what we call, the miricals. And he offered us something that is incomprehensible, life after death. Now this life wont be the life as we know it on earth, it is a lifetime of eternities (4ever basically) with our maker, with our creator, with our GOD.

Anyway, sidetracked there, denying yourself? I understand this to mean - giving up everything about ourselves that forms a barrier between God and us, and therefore a barrier that prevents us from following Christ. I think denying means to say no to our own human, earthly desires and relying on God for what we need. I think denying means putting God first, in everything. EVERYTHING. Not just what we want Him to come first in!!

And taking up the cross? This is easier to understand, but probably harder to say yes to. Taking up the cross basically means you are willing to lay down your life for your saviour, it means you are willing to pay the same price for following Jesus that so many others did in the past. Think about that for a bit, because its powerful stuff. Would you lay your life down for the one you love? Would you give your life up, for the one you call the Messiah?

Follow me? Now this is peanuts compared to the above. Follow him. Simple? No, ok, well - it means following his word, following his commands, following his way of life. He loved and made time for everyone. EVERYONE. Do you do this?

Have you chosen to follow Christ?
Will you deny yourself?
Will you take up the cross?
And will you follow Jesus Christ, Saviour, Messiah, Lord over all....will you follow Him?