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Luke 9:23-27
In this passage, Jesus teaches us about being a person who truly desires to follow Him. He teaches us that if we want to follow Him, we have to put His agenda for our lives before our agenda for our lives. Jesus says that we should take up our cross on a daily basis and put our own desires behind us in seeking His will and desire for our lives. Jesus teaches us that if we are trying to save our own lives, as if for our own desires and will, we will lose our life. Jesus teaches us that we will lose our life in seeking Him. The life that we lose as we begin to follow Jesus is the life of living in the natural ways of the sinful nature of this world – a world that was originally created for Lucifer when God cast him out of heaven for his disobedience to God. The life that we lose as we begin to follow Jesus is the sinful life that we are born with in this ungodly Luciferian world which originates our own selfish, arrogant, and prideful desires that are not given to us by our Creator God, but from the forceful controlling ways of the devil and his demonic following.
If we are living for the things of this world, which will all fade away with time, we are living a life that has no future gain, and all will be lost. We all desire to gain things in and for our lives. Jesus teaches us in Matthew 6:32b-33 (NKJV), “For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” Jesus teaches us in Luke 9:26 that if we are ashamed of Him, He will be ashamed of us when we stand before our Creator God in heaven. Do you want Jesus to be ashamed of you when you stand in judgement before Him in determining your eternal destiny? Stand up for Jesus now – take up your cross daily in this world for Jesus as He has already taken up His cross for you. . . for eternity. Jesus loves you; receive it today and open your heart to Him and receive the gift of life – a gift that only comes through Jesus.
This is the call of Jesus to turn from the sinful nature of this world and to seek the will of the LORD that will lead to eternal life.
The creation of the world and of man is recorded in the first three chapters of Genesis. Chapter three of Genesis records the fall of man to sin when Adam and Eve first disobeyed God. The first temptation that was put in the hearts and minds of Adam and Eve through the trickery of the devil is that same sinful desires of this world that the devil presents to everyone still today. In the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Old Testament) God gives the Laws in which, if followed, will produce righteousness. The problem is that no one is able to follow all the commandments of the Law because everyone has fallen to some sort of sin at some time in their lives. No one is able to follow the Laws of God in its entirety and therefore is trapped in sin (Psalm 14:1-3; Romans 3:9-20; Galatians 2:16).
If we want Jesus to speak up for us when we stand before our Creator God, then we must speak up for Him while we are living on this earth in the midst of the sinful nature. We must make a choice to willfully stop living in the ways of the world and to start living for Jesus. As Christians and children of God (John 1:12-13; Galatians 3:26-29), we are to live lives that produce the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) that lives in our hearts (Ephesians 2:8-10). Once we have repented (turned from) sin and received forgiveness from Jesus for our sins, we are to live an active life of allowing the light of Jesus to shine through us so that others too may see that light and be drawn to Jesus through the example that He sets in our lives. This is taking up our cross and following Him (Luke 9:23). This is putting the desires of this world behind us, and then seeking and following His will for our lives (Luke 9:24-25).
Satan infiltrates our minds with the thoughts of losing our life, which is a scary thought, but Satan is the father of lies (John 8:42-47) and he has control of the sinful nature. This is the same attitude that caused Lucifer (Satan) to be cast out of heaven, and now he uses his own faults to control us and keep us away from having a relationship with God. In turning from the sinful nature, we are not losing our lives but are saving them by putting our faith in Jesus as our Savior. If we are living our lives in the light of the Holy Spirit that lives in our hearts, we are no longer seeking the ways of this world but are seeking the ways of the LORD – and following them (Galatians 5:16-18).
Dear Lord,
As we take up our cross and follow Your will for our lives, we will be faced with persecution by this world. Jesus was persecuted, and we will face trials in our lives as we speak up for Jesus, but Jesus has overcome this world and He has overcome Satan who strives to keep us away from having a relationship with You.
Help us to see that the things of this world are temporary, but salvation in Christ Jesus is eternal. Please call us to live lives that produce the fruit of the Spirit so that we would put the sinful nature behind us and seek Your will for our lives and let the light of our Savior Jesus Christ shine through our lives to all those around us. In Jesus name I pray, amen.