“Then Jesus told His disciples, ‘If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me.’” (Matthew 16:24)
Over the past few days, we have read about Jesus’ path through suffering, death, and the grave, into glory. His suffering and death were unique. He bore the sin of humanity, so that we may go free if we accept His gift of forgiveness by faith. He conquered death—something we cannot replicate. And yet, in a certain way, believers share in Jesus’ suffering, death, and resurrection. They follow Him on His path.
That calls for self-denial. If we want to belong to Jesus and live with Him forever, we must give up our old life. We must make a radical break with sinful desires and habits. We no longer decide for ourselves what is good, but accept God’s guidelines as authoritative. For many of us, that is difficult. The Bible does not mince words about this either: following Jesus means to lose yourself, as though you are dying.
But—it is worth it! If you surrender yourself completely to Jesus, you will experience that life with Him is far better than life without Him. Moreover, there is a magnificent future hope:
“If we have died with Him, we will also live with Him; if we endure, we will also reign with Him.” (2 Timothy 2:11–12)