Mission Venture Ministries

Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it. (Luke 9:23-24)

A commitment to Christ means taking up our cross daily, giving up our dreams, possessions, even our very life for the cause of Christ if that is required of us. Only if we are willingly to take up our cross may we be called His disciple as Jesus personally said: “whoever does not carry their cross and follow Me cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:27). As we see, Jesus made it clear that only cross-bearers can be His disciples.

Following Jesus is easy when life runs smoothly, however, our true commitment to Him is revealed during trials. Jesus assured us that trials will come to His followers (John 16:33). We need to understand that discipleship demands sacrifice, and that Jesus never concealed that cost.

In Luke 9:57-62, there is an account of people who seemed willing to follow Jesus. When Jesus questioned them further, their commitment was half-hearted at best. They failed to count the cost of following Him. None was willing to take up his cross and each had a different excuse.

Consider these things if you believe that you’re ready to take up the cross and follow Jesus. Are you willing to follow Jesus if?

• It means losing some of your closest friends?
• It means being alienated from your family?
• It means losing your job?
• It means being persecuted?
• It means losing your life?

Following Jesus doesn’t necessarily mean that all these things will happen to you; but are you willing to take up your cross and follow Jesus?

If there comes a point in your life where you are faced with a choice how will you choose?

“Take up your cross daily, and follow Me,” means that we might face real death for Jesus’ sake but it also means that we must “die to self,” signifying a call to absolute surrender. Although the call is tough, the rewards are out of this world. “For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Matthew 16:25-26).

To further clarify what a disciple is, it is someone who has placed their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. A Christian who has been born again by the power of the Holy Spirit (John 3:3), and therefore “belongs to Christ” and is daily being transformed into the likeness of their Master (2 Corinthians 3:18).

A true disciple is a student of the Word; he has counted the cost and has totally committed his life to following Jesus. He accepts the call to sacrifice and follows wherever the Lord leads. The Christian disciple completely adheres to the teaching of Jesus, makes Christ his number-one priority, and lives for that reason.

And, because a true born again Christian loves Christ, they will also be an obedient disciple (John 14:15). Paul describes the reality of being a Christian disciple by stating: “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20).

A disciple follows Jesus, through good and bad times, knowing that Christ is with him and that He will reward each one of us in His time. But discipleship not only involves obeying and following Him, it also means that we make it our goal to disciple others as He has commanded us in the Great Commission.

Jesus was quite explicit about the cost of following Him. Discipleship requires a totally committed life: “Any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be My disciple” (Luke 14:33).

 Therefore, as we see, self denial and sacrifice for the love of Christ is expected and is so important that this command is recorded in; Matthew 16:24-25; Mark 8:34-35; Luke 9:23-25; Matthew 10:38 and Luke 14:27.

Consequently as a true disciple of Christ we renounce oneself as the center of existence, which goes against the natural inclination of the human will, and recognizing Jesus Christ as one’s new, true and only center. It means acknowledging that the old self is dead and the new life is now hidden with Christ in God, so that when Christ, who is our new life appears, then we also will appear with Him in glory (Colossians 3:3-4).

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