Jesus warned his disciples not to tell anyone who he was. “The Son of Man must suffer many terrible things,” he said. “He will be rejected by the elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of religious law. He will be killed, but on the third day he will be raised from the dead.”

Then he said to the crowd, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross daily, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but are yourself lost or destroyed? If anyone is ashamed of me and my message, the Son of Man will be ashamed of that person when he returns in his glory and in the glory of the Father and the holy angels. I tell you the truth, some standing here right now will not die before they see the Kingdom of God.”
Luke 9:21-27

Dear God, how much of my life do I still try to hold on to each day? As a percentage, I mean. I’d like to say it’s as low as 25%, but reality tells me it’s probably as high as 75%. I still like an awful lot of what I like and I can be very selfish.

What does a life completely surrendered to you look like? Have I ever seen it? In my American life, I haven’t seen many. Perhaps Jimmy Dorrell. He and his wife are incredibly sacrificial people. They gave up comfort and safety and moved to a very poor, dangerous part of their city to love people. They have sacrificed much more than I ever have. They have given of themselves. They sacrificed what they would give to their children. Yes, Jimmy is probably I’ve known personally who comes the closest this kind of sacrifice. Mother Theresa would be another, but I didn’t know her. My point is, they are truly few and far between—especially in America.

So what am I to do? What am I not doing that you would call me to do? Is there anything? Is there anything else you want me to sacrifice? My car? My nice home? My safe job? How about simpler things like the time I spend watching videos? The time I spend reading about sports? The time I exercise? If I were to truly put everything on the table, what would you have me give, and what would you allow me to keep?

Father, I don’t want to pray this next thing, but help me to see what it means to “give up [my] own way, take up [my] cross, and follow [you].” Reveal to me what you need me to see.

In Jesus’s name I pray,

Amen