The Deadly Embrace

Jesus answered, "Will you lay down your life for Me? Truly, truly, I say to you, a rooster will not crow until you deny Me three times. (John 13:38)

As a father, I encourage our children to read God’s Word, to meditate on its meaning in their lives and to pray. Many mornings, when I wake them up, I bring a Bible to them to reduce the obstacles between them and hearing God. My hope is that they desire to hear God speak in to their thoughts and life because “As a man thinks; so he is.” Our thoughts define who we are and when, by God’s grace, our thought patterns change, the pattern of our life also changes. But, even when God speaks into our life and disturbs our thoughts, our natural tendency is to fear for our life. Like Peter, we deny Christ because of fear.

We fear to lose our supposed security, our little pleasures and our old way of life. When we genuinely follow Christ, we will often find ourselves in new, uncomfortable and challenging circumstances. One’s natural tendency is to hurriedly drop his cross, embrace his old way of life, and draw back into his comfort zone. What fickle lovers we are. One minute, I can be inspired to love, serve and forgive. But within seconds, someone or some thought can completely frustrate my earlier inspiration because something of Self felt stepped on.

Oftentimes, we are like a little child who makes a beautiful card that says, “I love you, Mommy.” Yet, that same child, just a few minutes later, may stomp his foot and obstinately refuse to help or obey her. Talk is truly cheap. Our actions reveal how much we are actually dying to Self or investing in Self. If we genuinely follow Jesus, we will go beyond cheap talk, embrace death to our old way of life and accept change in our walk. Self has us in a deadly embrace and the only way to escape is to embrace death.

He that loves his life shall lose it; and he that hates his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal. (John 12:25)

Project:
Ask God for one thing to change in your life.
Seek God’s grace in how to implement the change.
Actually begin today to live the change.

Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. (Matthew 16:24)

Prayer:
Father, give me grace to not only hear Jesus but to love and follow Him even when my plans are disturbed and I begin to feel uncomfortable.

Focus Word: DEATH

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