And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.” Luke 9:23
This verse needs to become the daily mindset of all who call themselves disciples of Jesus Christ. These are no lightweight requirements. Why are they so essential? Because, they are the essence of the nature of Christ. The Adamic nature that we inherited at birth is a human nature infected by sin and is manifested most clearly in our selfishness. The flesh is focused on the trinity of me, myself, and I. It’s all about me; what I want; when I want it. People exist to meet MY needs. This is the polar opposite of the essence of Jesus and God’s original design of man. God not only sent Jesus to redeem us from sin but also from ourselves.
What does it mean to deny self? We have to realize that we are not the center of the universe; Jesus is. Life is not about us and our personal peace and happiness, it’s about glorifying Jesus. One of my most frequent prayers is, “Lord, deliver me from me.” All of our dysfunctional flesh patterns are rooted in our selfishness. We are delivered from our selfish flesh only when we choose to put it off and then put on the mindset of Jesus. His is a mindset of loving the Father and always doing the Father’s will.
Taking up the cross means submitting to the path and plan God has chosen for us. Our flesh wants to dictate to God how the events of our lives should unfold. When His plan differs from our plan, we may choose to react with anger and resentment toward Him. In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus agonized over the cross so much so that His sweat was filled with blood. In His humanity, He longed for another, less painful way to redeem us. In the end, He submitted His human will to His Father’s divine will, and for the joy that lay before Him, He endured the cross. Every day, we need to acknowledge our co-crucifixion with Jesus and that He is the One who is living His life through us for the Father’s glory and good pleasure.
Lastly, we are to follow Him always. Jesus is the leader in this dance of life, not us. For a couple to dance effectively, there can only be one person leading in the dance. In the same way, we have to trust Him to be our lead, and as a result, trusting Him to lead puts us in a position of rest as He does all of the hard work of leading us through the dance of life. Failing to trust Jesus to lead us in the dance, leads to much pain, stumbling, and unrest in our lives. Jesus knows where He is taking us. He is working everything together to make us like Him. We cannot do this; only He can.
Beloved, let Jesus deliver you from your own worst enemy: yourself. Set your mind every day on the truth that life is all about Jesus; you have been crucified with Him, and He now lives His life through you; choose to let Jesus lead you through the dance of life. As you daily choose to set your mind on these three things, you will rest in His loving arms as He leads you through this life!