D.E.N.Y. - Ditch Every No-good Yearning!

Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.  For whoever wants to save his life (meaning soul) will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it.

Mark 8:34-35

In three of the gospels there is an account of Jesus telling his disciples the same thing - that to follow him they must deny themselves, take up their cross and follow him.  That command from Jesus is still very relevant to Christians (his followers) today.  It's relevant to you and to me.  He is telling US to deny ourselves, to take up our cross, and to follow Him.

An acrostic for the word DENY could be "Ditch Every No-good Yearning" because the dictionary meaning of the word is "To refuse to recognize or acknowledge; to restrain oneself especially from indulgence in pleasures".  No-good stuff!

Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.

Matthew 16:24-25

There are so many "things" that can distract us from our walk with Jesus.  Satan is ready to give us a way-too-busy schedule or an excuse to keep us of the "good and narrow" path and sadly, sometimes he doesn't have to try too hard.  We must strive to stay focused and keep our eyes on Him.

Then he said to them all: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it.

Luke 9:23-24

So, how do you take up your cross and follow Jesus?  You sacrifice for others.  You sacrifice your time.  You sacrifice your rights.  You sacrifice your needs and wants for the sake of others.  You simply your lifestyle so you can give more financially to the needs of others.  You sacrifice your personal time, to help the needs of others.  You sacrifice your right to be recognized so that others are esteemed.   When you give, sacrifice, and love others the way Jesus did, you take up your cross and follow him.  You are worthy of him.  You are his disciple.

So D.E.N.Y. today!  Ditch Every No-good Yearning and follow Him!