October 13

Matthew 8-10

"Anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it." (Matthew 10:38-39, NIV)

 

Jesus does not sugarcoat the cost of following Him. The only way to find a full and fulfilled life is by following Jesus. But we cannot follow Him and continue to live the same way we have always lived. But if we commit our lives to Him, and allow Jesus to guide our lives, dying to ourselves and living for Him, we will live like we have never lived before. We will find a peace, a joy, a contentment that is available in no other way. This is what Paul was speaking of when he wrote; "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, NIV)

The common thread in Jesus’ teaching is that He has come to bring a new covenant, a new way of life. He has come to give us new hearts and new minds. He has come to bring the Kingdom of God to earth, but in order to enter His Kingdom, we must turn from our old way of living, we must repent and turn to Him. When we turn to Him, when we are willing to put our old ways aside and to turn to Him, taking up the cross, dying to ourselves, we will find the life we have always looked for. We will find the contentment for which we have always strived.