5 Aug 2016
Christianity is a pretty radical way of life. We have to “deny ourselves, take up our
crosses, and follow Jesus.” And that’s
both appealing and scary at the same time.
I mean, the idea of throwing ourselves into something, giving it our
all, and being radically committed can be exciting. It’s what makes men and women think about
vocations to religious life or priesthood or being a deacon. And, in a way, it’s also what makes people
think about marriage as well.
But, at the same time, the idea of denying ourselves, taking
up our crosses, and following Jesus can also be a little threatening. And that’s because it requires us to “lose
our life for the sake of Jesus.” And
nobody wants to “lose their life.”
Christianity is a pretty radical way of life; it requires us
to put our love for God ahead of ourselves.
And that impacts our everyday life: our activities, the time we give to
prayer, our priorities, what we do for entertainment, the way we interact with
others, and so on. And that can be a
little scary. What will Christ ask of us
if we really follow him?
It boils down, perhaps, to our trust in the Lord. Do we trust him with our life? Do we trust that he’s right . . . that “whoever
loses his life for my sake will find it?” Maybe instead of jumping into the deep end of
the pool, we could stick in a toe in and see what it feels like. What’s an area of life that you can begin to
turn over to the Lord? Just put a toe
out there into the living water of God’s love and mercy . . . and see what
happens.
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