Lenten Reader | Day 1

It is easy to misjudge the words of Jesus in this passage. But those present would have understood the severity of them all too well. To take up your cross was not a religious term as it is today. It was a call to lay it all on the line – all you want and hope for in life. Jesus knows that we have many hopes and desires in life and that they can get in the way of what He wants to do in our lives. That is not to say that we cannot have dreams and aspirations, but it is a call to hold everything loosely for His sake. It is a question of ultimate allegiance. Who am I going to serve without reservation – myself or Jesus?

When we decide to follow Jesus, we commit to letting go of our life for His sake, knowing that only in Him will we truly find ourselves. When we can let go of what we think we want or need and allow God to guide us we will live a much more fulfilling life – not because we have more but because our values are different.

Denying ourselves might start by saying no to that item that has been sitting in your Amazon cart or grabbing the afternoon coffee pick-me-up. But it goes deeper into the way we see the world. A way that is not self-serving but others-serving. It is about seeing the people around us in everyday need that we have the opportunity to help.

Denying oneself is thinking less about self and choosing to see others more. This is the way Jesus operated. Certainly, He did not want to go to the cross but chose to out of love for us. He challenges us to let go of what we want and calls us to look toward others.

What good is it to live my life focused on myself? We lose our life for focusing on it. But we gain so much more by laying it down and giving of ourselves. This is at the heart of following Jesus.

Brady Miller