Death is a taboo in our culture. We don’t talk about it openly; neither do we have positive hope in death. But Jesus talks about His death openly. He is the Messiah who not only delivers, but also dies. This really blows the mind of Jesus’ Jewish followers and also blows my mind sometimes. We all have a common beliefs and expectation: a messiah delivers, not dies. But Jesus did both.
The author says, “To follow Christ, there is no room for self.” In my own understanding, if I want to have the abundant life that Jesus promises, I cannot have self, I have to die to self, and there is no room for self. This is such a paradox in Christian faith, which will take me my entire life to understand.
Jesus states the plain fact that: to be His disciple, I have to deny myself. And unless I really know myself, how can I deny myself? That is why the author also mentions that: To know God, you must know yourself; and to know yourself, you must know God.
Do you know your ‘self’ enough? What is in your ‘self’ that God wants to deal with during this season of Lent? Maybe God is speaking to you about a specific situation in your life right now, are you ready to let God deal with it as He reveals it to you? As you get to know God more during this season of Lent, you will get to know your ‘self’ more, and are you ready to deny your ‘self’?
This is the price of following Jesus. Do you still want to follow Him? The good news is that Jesus has already paid it all in full on the Cross.
HHS…
Abel….
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