The cost of following Jesus

Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it.”—LUKE 9:23,24

With these words, Jesus clearly states the cost of following Him. This was Jesus’ invitation to the crowd to follow Him; and the price, supreme. “If you want to come after Me, deny yourself.” It’s the end of you— your dreams, hopes, ambitions, goals. The gospel is not about self-fulfillment; it’s about self-denial. In the Greek, the statement “deny himself” basically means “to refuse to associate with.” That means that you’re coming to Christ because you refuse to any longer associate with the person that you are. You’re sick of yourself and your sin, and with desperation you willingly yield up that empty life you no longer want to associate with. You lose your life to gain it. How extreme is this commitment? It involves taking up your cross daily. In the ancient world, the cross only meant one thing—a painful, horrible, shameful death. Jesus was saying, “If you want to follow Me, it’s the end of you and not just your hopes and dreams. It may even cost you your physical life. But the infinite value of following Me is worth the high cost, because if you do lose your life for My sake, you’ll save it forever.” Ask yourself if you’re truly following Jesus.