Question from a friend of WordTruth Ministries:
>> Why is obedience costly?
WordTruth.Com Response:
What a great question! It would seem so easy to simply do what God has
told us to do. Yet the experience of God's people for thousands of years
has proven otherwise. In fact, our LORD Jesus Christ told us that it would
be costly to follow Him:
If
anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross
daily, and follow Me. (Luke 9:23, NIV)
Consider what you must give up to follow Christ. Your service may be required,
investing yourself in the lives of others to lead them to faith in Christ
and growth in His grace. Your time may be required to do what the LORD
has called you to accomplish. Your money may be required to support His
kingdom work in this world. All your natural desires for self-fulfillment,
ambition, significance from the world's perspective will have to take a
back seat to the will of God ("let
him deny himself"). This does not mean you will
never have fun or be fulfilled as a person. It just means that you put
obeying the LORD first.
The phrase "take
up his cross daily" is an interesting one.
It has been interpreted in various ways through the years. Most commonly
it is interpreted to mean a particular burden that one must bear in life.
Looking at what Jesus is saying in this passage of Scripture, I do not
agree with that interpretation. It seems that here Jesus is speaking of
the will of an individual. When God made humans in His image (Gen. 1:27),
He imparted to us certain attributes that He also possesses -- the ability
to think or reason, emotions, and a will to make decisions. In order to
"deny yourself" you will have to think about the things that God has commanded
as they apply in your life and come to a decision point. To "take
up [your] cross daily"you must exercise your will
at this decision point to choose obedience to God.
Obedience is costly because it requires your life to be devoted to God.
Obedience is costly because it requires self-denial and sacrifice, choosing
instead to rely on God's promise to graciously provide for your needs (Matthew
6:33; Phil 4:19). As Jesus declared:
For
whoever desires to save his life will lose it. But whoever loses his life
for My sake and for the gospel's will save it. (Mark 8:35, NKJV)
I hope this begins to answer what is, in reality, a life-long question
for every person.
May the LORD Jesus Christ bless you with wisdom to know His will and
the courage to follow Him!
Randy Lariscy :-)
Director - WordTruth Ministries
Our Creator God loves you and wants you to know Him! If you would
like to contact this ministry for further information or questions, please
send your e-mail to:
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Web Site: WordTruth.Com
Copyright 5/17/2000, Randy Lariscy.
