Today in my prayer class we talked briefly about Luke 9:23-25:
"If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. (v. 23)"
Jesus does not hold back on the requirements of coming after him: we must deny ourselves and take up our crosses and follow him. None of these are easy. The cross is an instrument of execution. There is nothing easy about this statement. Living it out will lead to hardships in this life (even loss of life) that could be avoided if we just ignored Christ's words. But if we ignore His words then we ignore what comes next:
"For whoever would save his life will lose it but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. (v. 24)"
If lived out Biblically, the Christian life will be hard and perilous, but this life is the worst it gets for the Christian. For if we lose our life for Christ's sake we will gain so much more. For the non-Christian, this life is the best they will ever experience. It will never get any better. There is nothing to be envied of the billionaire atheist.
"For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself? (v. 25)"
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