Matthew 16: 24-26
Then Jesus said to His disciples, If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for My sake, you will save it. And what do you benefit if you gain the whole World but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul?
A cross is an instrument of death. No one takes up a cross with the intention to live, but to die. So when we turn from our selfish ways and not let apathy continue in our hearts toward others, determine that we will not focus on ourselves but on others and decide to serve them as serving the Lord; then God will reward us with gifts that we would not even think of or imagine, right here in this World, and eternally in the next.
Nothing in this life will endure beyond this Earth; it had a beginning and it will have an end. But God gave us a soul, which is who we are, our person-hood and person-ality, and it will never die like our bodies, but will live on forever.
So will we die to this life and live with God forever, or will we cling to this worldly life of pleasure and end up suffering forever, paying our own debt?
Each one of us has been born through Adam, and inherit his sinful bent in wanting to make our own decisions, not listening to anyone else, being our own god. It's because of this sinful bent in our persons that we make foolish choices, to please ourselves. We become selfish and apathetic toward others, always considering "Number 1" first.
That's why Jesus came the first time. The Lord God of the Universe we got to know in the Old Testament has always been the One Who communicated and dealt with His creation, Mankind. He is the One Who decided before Creation was ever begun, that He would be the go-between between God the Father and Man. And He would be the One to rescue Man if/when he sinned.
And we sinned. So He gave His people His Law, including all the sacrifices, to show what the Lord God would do when He came to rescue us. He is called the Lamb of God because He fulfilled those animal sacrifices that were acted out then. He is the Final Sacrifice, shedding God's own Blood, with endless power to not just cover, but take away sin.
Now when we consider ourselves dead to sin, because Jesus died for us, and we deny our own longings to satisfy ourselves, focusing on others instead; that is dying to ourselves, giving up our lives for Him. And then we will find that God sees to it that we gain so much more than we ever gave up, maybe not in the same way we envisioned it, but so much better!
I trust my Maker to know me better than I know myself, and His love for me which is more than I can imagine, to give to me everything He knows I need, and more, and to do in me and to me and through me what I can never do myself. Then He will get all the credit for what He has done, all the glory.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
