Following Jesus
Means Self-denial
“Then He said to
them all, If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself,
and take up his cross daily, and follow Me (Luke 9:23).” Here,
Jesus tells us that you do not only need deliverance from sin but
also deliverance from Self. So then, Jesus died on His cross to save
you from your sin, but you must die on your cross to follow Him. This is what Jesus had in mind when He told a group of Greeks who
came to Jerusalem for the Passover: “...unless a grain of wheat
falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it
produces much grain (John 12:24).” This means you must forsake
your life to get into His life and that requires self-denial. It
means that your growth and fruit will come about as you crucify your
Self. So it is not by self-assertion or by self-will, but only by
dying out to Self that your roots go down in brokenness and humility,
and that your spiritual branches spring upwards.
Instantly after
conversion, you quickly discover that there is an enemy within
you...something within
you that does not want to die, that does not
want to go with you on this new journey of forsaking your old life.
There is something within you that does not want to take time to go
to prayer meeting, to witness for Jesus in public, to break up
ungodly relationships or to abandon harmful old habits. You also
discover that there is still a critical, murmuring, judgmental and
self-seeking spirit within you. The Apostle Paul calls it: “...the
spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience (Eph. 2:2)” which
is the spirit of Satan. It is also called the Self, the flesh, the
carnal nature, the Adamic nature, and the old man.
Again, as soon as
you are saved, you will discover that this Self within you protests
and resents every step you take in following Jesus. You will notice
a battle raging within you of the flesh against the Spirit. And that
is why Jesus said that for you to stay with Him, you will need to
take up your cross daily...This means that we must
continuously resist and crucify the sinful nature whenever it raises
its ugly head. This is why Paul said, “...I die daily (1 Cor.
15:31)” Remember, it was only a few seconds of not keeping his
heart that took David into adultery; and it also took only a few
seconds for Peter to deny his Lord. The Self within you will
continue to choose the ways of convenience, of least resistance, of
avoiding conflict and of seeking popularity. The way of the cross is
not like this and it is generally despised by men, yet applauded by
heaven. It is the only way to true happiness.
Take note that every
morning the Self (and the devil) has plans for you that day, but so
also does your Lord because the Bible says: “The steps of a good
man are ordered by the Lord…(Psalm 37:23)” Which plans are you
going to pursue? Who are you going to follow? Is it “your kingdom
come” or is it “God’s kingdom come” that matters to you? Is it "your will be done" or "God's will be done?" To
whom will you turn over the control of your life from now on, to the
old man or the new man?
The Self may want
you to go to the wedding of a friend, but Jesus may want you to visit
and pray with someone in a hospital. Are you going where Jesus wants
you to go and have His anointing, or are you going where self wants
you to go without Jesus and without His anointing? The Self may want
you to buy a new television, but the Lord may want you to help a
missionary in Africa with that finance. The Self may want you to
work on a project at home, but God may need you to repair something
at a widow’s house. My friend, be encouraged because every time
you deny Self and obey god, you will receive the joy of the Lord as
your reward. Once you begin to obey consistently, you will have a
continual stream of peace and joy in the Holy Spirit flowing into
your heart, refreshing you and others likewise. Praise the Lord!
Self-denial is the first step towards obedience allowing you to do the will of God. And nothing else matters in your life but finding and doing the will of God: nothing more, nothing less, and nothing else. Jesus said, "Behold, I have come - In the volume of the book it is written of me - To do Your will, O God (Heb. 10:7)" That was His mission and He fulfilled it: and now it is time for you to let Him fulfill that mission in you. Let the Holy Spirit live in your body as He lived in Jesus' body 2000 years ago. The first Adam lost paradise by disobedience, the second Adam (Christ) regained it by obedience. May the Lord grant you the grace to obey Him in every future moment of your life.
Because
self-denial opens the way to obedience, it is the queen of all disciplines. It is the giving up of one thing to gain another. For you as a Christian, it
means giving your all to get God’s all. Say “yes” to
self-denial. Armies cannot win without self-denial. Athletes must
embrace it to win their trophies. Graduate schools look for students who live by self-denial. Airlines will only hire pilots who exercise it. All significant advancements of
mankind have originated from men who have embraced self-denial, and a
Christian cannot be a Christian without continually exercising it.
Only the self-denying Christian can have unbroken fellowship with Jesus. There is no room for a servant of Jesus Christ to engage in self-indulgence, or to get side-tracked by having his life cluttered with matters outside the perfect and acceptable will of God.
Faith engages the heart (Romans 10:10), but self-denial and obedience engage the will. Engaging the heart without engaging the will makes you fall short of having fellowship with your Savior: the heart grasps for the things of eternity; the will engages you into those things. Therefore, Jesus taught us to pray: "...Your will be done (Matt. 6:10)" and He also said: "...whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother (Matt. 12:50)."
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