“If anyone would come after me, he
must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.”
Luke 9:23
When Don Schnake, the owner of a
Christian bookstore, learned that John Stott, a gifted evangelist, preacher,
scholar and Christian statesman, had authored a book entitled, “The Cross of
Christ,” he ordered a large supply. But the new book didn’t sell. Don finally
cut the price by 50 percent. “I had to finally pack them up and send them back
to the publisher.” Don said.
It seems people aren’t rejecting John
Stott as much as they are rejecting an issue with which they don’t want to be
confronted. Gilded with 14-karat gold and studded with diamonds or rubies,
crossed have a ready market. But drape them with self-denial and self-abnegation
and their popularity begins to dissipate.
Luke records Jesus’ conversation with
the disciples: “Then He said to them: If anyone would come after me, he must
deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me” (Luke 9:23). Jesus talked
about this subject more than once because the word Luke use indicates
repetition.
“The reason the world has not yet
felt the full impact of the Gospel,” says Dennis Kenlaw, president of Asbury
College, “Is because we, as Christ’s disciples, are willing to sacrifice
anything but ourselves. Through His grace, we must take our hands off our lives
and say, ‘Spend me as You will.”
The impact of the Cross is not that
we must physically suffer for our sins. Jesus did that! But rather that we
might push the self aside and let Christ live within our lives. The Lenten
season isn’t enough. But rising each day and saying, “Lord, Jesus, I want You
to be first in my life today. Take complete control and be Lord of all my
life,” is.
No comments:
Post a Comment