Those who Come to Jesus

"And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me." Mark 8:34

In this passage, Jesus brought two contrasting things to focus. The self, and the cross. The former, He commands us to deny, and the latter, He commands us to carry daily and follow Him. To deny self relates to the assumed merits of the flesh: those things that we have accomplished or think we can accomplish by our strength, abilities, talents, wisdom, connections, grandeur, intellect, or beauty. On the other hand, to carry the cross is indicative of taking up the accomplishments of the cross: that is everything that proceeds from the meritorious death of Jesus Christ on the cross, and live by them. In other words, those who come to Jesus Christ are to put aside their earthly and personal accomplishments gotten in the energy of the flesh, and look to what He accomplished on cross for everything in life.

For example, to the billionaire who puts his trust in Jesus Christ, Jesus would say, look to Me for your daily bread like all others do. Why would a billionaire ask God for his daily bread, one may ask? He will only do this in recognition of the fact that even the health to eat whatever money can buy depends on God. 

In calling us to deny self and follow Him, Jesus was showing us the only way to be happy and stable in this failing, and broken world.

Toni