The Cost of Not Being a Disciple

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Scripture: Matthew 16:24-27 (NIV)

24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 25 For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. 26 What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? 27 For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what they have done.

Devotion:

            This scene is captured by Mark, and Luke almost verbatim. For whatever reason, this scene got the attention of the disciples and burned it into their memories long after Jesus' death, resurrection, and ascension. These words are important to us who call ourselves Christians and disciples of Christ because they tell us how to live life as disciples of Christ. The way Jesus describes here is not an effortless way or a smooth road to walk on. We need to pay attention to verse 27 where Jesus declares that there will be an ultimate judgement day for rewards and punishments.

            The first thing the disciple is, in fact, commanded to do is deny themselves and take up their cross and follow Jesus. What Jesus means here is that a person is to put their service to the kingdom first. It follows on the first of the ten commandments that states “You shall have no other God’s before me.” (Exodus 20:3) Your first, and primary devotion is to be reserved for God. It is all too easy to let other things get in the way. We have lives to live, bills to pay, work and family obligations to attend to.

            We are told that in order to save our lives we must lose them. What is Jesus talking about with this command? Well, it very well could be related to the last statement about denying oneself and taking up your cross. If we try to hold on to our current situations at work, family, and other worldly occupations we will lose them permanently when either we or they are no more. What good will it be if indeed you are like Elon Musk and own many companies and have more money than anyone else if you lose your own soul in the process?

 I can personally say that there were at least two jobs I had in the past that where it felt like when they were over, I could breathe again. I regained my soul from soul sucking employment where it felt like I was not accomplishing anything for the Lord. There are many people that are trapped in jobs that do not allow them to lay their heads down on the pillow at night and sleep peacefully. Let us pray that we may be faithful disciples of Jesus.

Prayer:

            Lord, we come before your throne in this hour to confess that we often live our lives without thinking about what you would have us do our jobs. Teach us to spend the time you give us on this earth wisely and well so that your kingdom may prosper. Help us learn how to seek the life that comes from above in our daily walk with you. Thank you for loving us enough to lose your son’s life for our salvation. Amen.

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