And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. Luke 9:23
As we go through life, it's easy to get caught up in the physical, this small peace of real estate we live on for a time, in relationships, in jobs, and families, and lives. Things that we should tend to, while we are able. Yet the swiftness of life, a few short years that we're all given, reminds us that we're temporary. We blink and we're grown up, wondering where the time went. Blink. Married. Blink. Kids are out of the house. Blink. Mourning the loss of someone close to us. It's over in a Blink. If we're not careful, we'll miss the Kingdom, as well. Many of us can't wait for a day where we will see Jesus face to face. I dream about it! I anticipate it daily. Yet that Kingdom promised to us from before the foundation of the world isn't some far away time, a promise yet to come. It is here now. So few, though see it.
The Kingdom isn't some far away promise. It is here. Now. Jesus said that to see it, we must, however, be born again (John 3:3). Made new. See with the Spirit, having been born through Water and the Spirit. How? How can one be Born again (Nicodemus asked the same question...it is very valid!). First we must deny ourselves. Take up our cross, daily, and follow after Jesus. We must put our selves to death, that which the New Testament refers to over and again as the Flesh; my own wants, wishes, and desires, whether they are selfish and self-seeking or not. It, then, should be my desire to bend every part of my life, as Jesus did, to pleasing the Father. Picking up my cross, crucifying my flesh, and seeking Jesus in all things, losing my life for the sake of Jesus Christ that His Glory is seen. To inherit and see this Kingdom, now, before my earthly tent wears out, I must die to me, and let the Holy Spirit be the one who guides each step. Spend some time in the Word of God, today and every day. Deny yourself. Pick up your Cross, follow Jesus and see the splendor of the Kingdom.
Luke 9:23-27 And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself? For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. But I tell you truly, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God.”
