Luke 9:23

Luke 9:23 was in our reading of God's word this week and I'll be using to speak about in Youth Group as well: Here are a few thoughts as its broken down: 

Those who want to come after Jesus must:

Deny self: Don’t do what you would naturally want to do. The heart is desperately wicked and deceitful above all things. Left to ourselves we do not want to follow God we want what is temporary, what feels good right now, what brings us fame and popularity and influence, comfort or wealth. 

Take up Your Cross: active participation, knowing that its going to cost you but you do it anyway. You know that it will be worth it. You know that Jesus has authority over all things and so you will follow him anywhere even if it will mean sacrifice and pain in this life. 

Daily: most of us can imagine ourselves having a onetime great moment of passion where we pledge our lives to Christ and will do whatever it takes to follow Him. Many of us have made these kind of pledges at a camp or youth rally or other event but how many of us begin each day with this kind of commitment. How many of us get comfortable or distracted or weighed down with the daily stuff in our lives and we take a day off which leads to two, then three, four…  How often in that moment when it might cost us a moment of secret pleasure when watching a T.V. show or joking with friends at school, or befriending someone unpopular or hard do love, do we take the day off and tell ourselves that this one little moment wont make that much difference in the long run…

Follow Me: Do we really know what we are saying when we say that we will, or that we want to follow Jesus? Being a disciple of Christ requires the whole being. It pervades every aspect of life from family, to community, to personal relationships and even personal attitudes and thoughts. We can’t do this on our own. we need the help of the Holy Spirit, we need God’s word that he has given us. We need each other to encourage, counsel, challenge and pray for us. We need to follow Jesus all the way to the Cross and find that he has saved us there from death and that he has paid for our lives. They are no longer our own. We can and should trust him with them no matter the cost, no matter the direction. In this life, there is nothing worth trading for Jesus. There is no moment, there is no pleasure, there is no wealth or security.