Deny Yourself and Follow Christ

“If anyone would come after me he must deny himself and take up his cross and daily follow me” Luke 9:23

Years ago the love of Christ compelled me to go before strangers and there give my heart to him. I can yet remember the war going inside of my heart. Part of me was terribly angry. For one I could not stand religious folks, they were a bunch of hypocrites as far as I was concerned. Well, I had that part right.

Another part of my heart so yearned for freedom, I craved love to enter into my heart. Throughout my youth I knew something was missing and in the back of my mind I kept searching. So on a warm July night, among strangers, among the religious, and with all types of contradicting emotions and thoughts my heart surrendered to the love of Jesus Christ.

Little did I know or any of us what that decision really meant. Back then if you quoted the above scripture I probably would have swallowed hard and said o.k., Lord, I’ll do whatever you ask, just love me, just let me be near you. I would have thought of denying myself and my conclusion would be, it’s worth it… just to be near him whom my heart so loves…

That was many miles and trials ago. I’ve been through much of the ‘Christian’ experience. The one who so hated hypocrites ever so slowly developed into one, a pretty good one. The one who so despised the arrogance of false Christianity… took it up and ran with it and made some people believe that he was just the best, the sweetest, the greatest.

And you know what… Christ even loves the hypocrite. And through his love and grace and mercy I am what I am today… whatever that may be.

And whatever that is… is the concern of others but as for me I’m moving on. I’m passing through this world as a stranger and a foreigner. For I don’t belong here, this is not my home. My place is at the feet of Christ my Lord and my heart is crying, ‘just love me Lord and let me be near you and if you want me to give up something just say so. Lord, you know I’ll need help because I’m weak and foolish and a mess but I’m in love with you and you say which way and I’ll follow. Who else can I follow, who else can you follow (John 6:68)?

So, Christ is speaking to your heart to listen as his Spirit whispers to you. He’s calling, “come after me… “give up yourself to me” and “take up who you are” and “follow me.” Christ doesn’t say change first and then follow him, he’s saying do it now and let his love wash you of worldly falsehoods that bind you and cause you to stumble.

The Bible says, “come after me”; that means follow Jesus, keep your eyes on him and him alone. Don’t be something or someone that you are not, be yourself. Look in the mirror of God’s word and accept yourself for who you are, for the wonderful person that God created. Get your eyes off of the physical and look at the heart. You may be small or big, tall or not so tall, goodly to look on or not so much—but none of that really matters now does it? There are no beauty pageants in heaven!

Everyday I’m amazed. Folks so take care of their flesh. The wash and groom it, feed it, exercise it and do absolutely nothing for their souls. It is no wonder that the world is a mess all around us? Christians are on a vacation. They would rather watch a movie than study the Word of God. They would rather hit the running trail then fall on their knees and pray. They would rather look great than become great in the sight of God.

Don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with eating right and exercising. But there is something very, very wrong if those things are a higher priority than feeding your soul with the goodness of Christ Jesus. Where is your heart? What is your priority? To whom are you in love with?

As this world continues to disintegrate right before our eyes Christ is calling for Godly men to stand and be men of God. He’s calling women to be women of God. And he’s calling all of us to give up trying to be someone we are not, to hear his voice, and to follow him.