The Daily Challenge

 October 30, 2024

Wednesday

Each day is a challenge. There are no days off. Jesus told us to deny ourselves and take up our crosses daily.

Luke 9:23 (NASB 2020) ²³ And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow Me.

There are a couple of things that I realized about this scripture that I never realized before. The verbs have different tenses and moods. For example "wants" is in the present tense. It is a continuing wish. It means I will continue to want this want if I am to want this want.

"Come" is also present tense. It makes sense when set with want. I must have something to want and I want to come after Jesus. I want to get close to Him. However, this is not a command. It is an offer from the Lord. He is saying, "Do you want to go with me?" Most are saying, "Naw, I'm good, " and we stay in the same state that we are in. We know Jesus but we don't know Him intimately. We never see miracles. In fact, we don't want to see miracles. We love the status quo. We want just enough Jesus to get to heaven.

But if we do want to come close to Him, He tells us what we must do. He says that we must deny ourselves. That word "deny" is aorist. It signifies a completed action that happens once. There must come a moment when we decide to deny ourselves in such a way that we don't want to go back to indulging in ourselves again. We cross a line from which we would never want to cross back over. Few people make this commitment. After salvation, it is the biggest commitment a person can make. It says, "I will deny myself so that I can come with Jesus. I'm not going back from this." No, it doesn't make us sinless. I makes us committed.

Then, we come to the phrase "take up his cross." This one is aorist, as well. It is a completed action that happens once. It is also an imperative. Of course, it must be understood with "daily." Each day, we are commanded to take up our cross if we are to follow Jesus. Each day it will be a completed action. Each day it will be a decision we will make or we will not take up our own crosses.

Thus, comes the challenge for today. Your cross is not something that is thrown on you that you can't avoid. Your cross is something you choose to take up so that you will die on that cross today. What is it that will put the flesh to death that you need to take up today?

But remember, this is an invitation. You don't have to do this to go to heaven. You don't have to do this to be a good Christian. Most people will see you as better than most if you just stay out of trouble. You only need to do this if you really want to follow Jesus.

So, are you going to take up your cross today?