Luke 9: 22-25
Jesus said to his disciples: "The Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised."
Then he said to all, "If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. What profit is there for one to gain the whole world yet lose or forfeit himself?"
Dawg's Thought:
Today's prayer intention - for those who are persecuted for their faith.
If Jesus calls us to deny ourselves in order to follow Him, there must be something that is holding us back. If Jesus calls us to take up our cross before He calls us to follow Him, it must mean that the call to discipleship includes bearing a burden.
If we are called to deny ourselves in this season of Lent, it is good to know that the reason we do this is because we are following Christ. It is good to know that the reason why we sacrifice is because we are being obedient to Our Lord.
So, it seems that in our sacrifice we can learn and know obedience. If we can come to know obedience, we can learn and know holiness.
It is difficult, then, to be conditioned to fulfill every desire. It makes the sacrifice all the more difficult, which means that we have a great opportunity, and a great challenge, to live a life of obedience and holiness.
May our Lenten sacrifice condition our hearts to know and love obedience. Take care and God Bless.
|
