“Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and will then repay every man according to his deeds.”
Lord, what do You want to say about this? This is not mild mannered Jesus. This is Jesus drawing a line in the sand for His disciples and letting them know they have a choice to make. We all have a choice to make. And I happen to believe that religion in some ways has distorted that choice. Jesus makes it clear here. If we follow Him, our soul lives. Rejecting Jesus, rejecting His teachings, His sacrifice and His ways literally brings spiritual death to our souls. Choosing Jesus brings life and life more abundant ... even with sacrifice and pain, it is glorious life wrapped in the love of Jesus. It’s a choice, but if we see what choosing our own way truly means for our soul... it’s a clear choice. It may not always feel like an easy choice. As Joshua said after he counted the cost - Choose this day whom you will serve. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.
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