Luke 9:24 “If any person wills to come after Me let him deny himself, lose sight of himself and his own interests, and take up his cross daily and follow Me”. Jesus is saying to us, be conformed to His example in living…and, if need be, in dying. In Paul’s letter to the Romans, he wrote we’re to be transformed in the renewal of our minds. We’re not who we once were, we’re a new creation in Christ, not slaves to sin and death but to righteousness and life. We don’t get to a certain point and reject His Grace, not if we truly know Him. Are we… ‘all in’? When it comes right down to it, if given the choice to live our life and reject Jesus…to choose the ‘sparkly things of this world’ or Him…or to lose our possessions, our wealth, our status among men…and follow Him, what would we choose? The decision made now seems easy, but the one we make when the time comes, when we’re pressed…hard, may be more difficult. Jesus tells us this decision is the most important one of our life, our ‘natural, temporal’ life and our etetnal life. This decision affects our eternity. Our choice is between light and dark, eternal life with God, or death…an eternity without Him. Our spirit is eternal, the choice is clear… God or Satan, heaven or hell, righteousness or wickedness…light or darkness. Two choices…the line is clear. The flesh is a vessel for the spirit. The flesh itself has no eternal value, but rather the most miraculous ‘tent’ ever created to house our spirit. Paul states plainly ‘to live is Christ, to die is gain’, Christ gives our life on this earth meaning, but to die…means He has turned our death into profit through His Grace. ‘It’s worth nothing for a man to have the whole world if he loses his soul…’. Lord, pour into us Your wisdom and strength to stand firm in choosing righteousness. Guard our hearts in Christ Jesus. Thank You for not letting us go.
