January 14, 2011

Matthew 16:24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, "Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me."

God must REALLY want me to pay attention to this idea because it came up in my Blackaby reading and was one of the featured verses in a daily lesson from our current small group series at Ridgecrest. (Luke 9:23-24  Then he (Jesus) said to them all, "Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.  For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it."

On the surface, the call the deny oneself seems straightforward.  Do what God wants, not what we want.  Give up stuff for the Kingdom.  BUT. . .  What does God want for each believer?  How much "stuff" do we give up?  How Spartan a life do we live so we have more "stuff" to give to God?

These are questions I have struggled with for quite a while.  When I look around our house, I see many things that $$ have purchased that have no Kingdom value.  In the basement alone I see old cameras I purchased on eBay to be used just as "design elements" (at least that is what HGTV calls such objects).  There is an old leaded-glass window panel we bought in Eureka Springs that is sitting on the mantle just for decoration.  A new ceiling light fixture was purchased to replace the old one which was working fine, but this new one complements the decor.  Let's not even venture into my closet.

Then there is the whole time issue.  How many volunteer hours at a food bank, soup kitchen or church committees is enough?  Is watching an episode of "The Big Bang Theory" ever a Kingdom use of time?

I don't know the answer to these questions, but I do know that I have been unsettled with these questions long enough that God must be trying to tell me something.  I think I am just not being quiet enough long enough to get His whole message.

All that is just one point from today's reading.  The second line of thought from these New Testament verses will be explored tomorrow.

Please pray what I will seek God's leading in the area of self-denial and then will be obedient when He reveals His will for me.