"And he said unto them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me."
For many, routine is life itself. If the routine is upset in any way, life becomes difficult to handle. For many, their daily routines consist of rising in the morning to a cup of coffee, rushing to shower and get ready for work. Then the kids have to be gotten up, dressed, and fed. Once all is gathered, the children are loaded up, taken to school or day care, and then there the rush into daily employment. Once the whistle blows, rush hour traffic is faced, the kids are picked up and the day is almost spent. However, once home, daily chores are performed, bills must be paid, dinner must be prepared, and any work brought home must be completed. Finally, after all tasks are concluded, it is time to collapse into bed only to wake up and begin it all again the next day.
For the majority, this is life, or at least what they perceive to be life. But in our text, Christ reveals that to His disciples, there is a different routine to their lives. Lets look at our text.
I. We must choose to place Christ in our daily routines.
Notice, Christ stated, "If any man will..." Christ at no point will force Himself upon you. To have Christ in your everyday life is only by your own choice. Your daily routine must be prepared by you with Christ in it. Joshua asked the children of Israel to choose who they would serve. God told the children of Israel in Deuteronomy that He had set before them two choices, life or death, and He gave them the responsibility to choose. If you want Christ to be evident with you in your daily walk through this troublesome life, then you must choose to put Him there.
II. We must choose to place Christ first in our daily routines.
Christ places importance also on the order of our daily routines. Many are guilty of giving God only what is left over after a hard days work. Saturdays also become a day of work such as mowing the lawn, tinkering with the car, working around the house, etc. Then all that is left is Sunday. But come Sunday, fatigue has really set in, so Sunday becomes a day of rest and relaxation, and many just lounge around the house all day.
Sounds familiar doesn’t it? Most would say, "Well what’s wrong with that?" As far as working is concerned, nothing. God gave specific counsel in Genesis that man would work for six days and on the seventh day he would rest. However, when you look at this routine, where is a place for Jesus?
Jesus stated that if a man would choose Him, then he would willingly place himself in submission to God. We must understand that God is not some cosmic genie or puppet that will be there for our pleasure or our emergencies. God demands headship over all, and if you choose to place God in your life, the only place that He will be willing to reside is at the front.
Work is fine in and of itself, but when work or employment takes precedence over our relationship with Christ, then a change must be made. I can think of two examples in Scripture that give us a wonderful picture of what I am trying to get across. In Matthew 4:18-22, we see that Christ has first come to Simon Peter and his brother Andrew. These two were fisherman by trade and were currently at work tending their nets. Christ as He comes to them bids them to follow Him. They agree, and the Bible states that they immediately left their nets and followed Him. Shortly after, Christ comes upon James and John working with their father. These two were brothers that were working for the family business, and like Peter and Andrew, were currently at work when Jesus comes to them. He bids them to come also, and like the two before, they also immediately leave their employment and follow Him.
What about you? Are you willing to place Christ first in your life? I am not talking about lip service, but true commitment to Jesus. Luke 14:33 states, "So likewise, he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple."
III. We must choose to submit our will to His.
Not only must we choose Christ, and then place Him first in our lives, but we must relinquish any aspect of control over our lives. Jesus stated that the individual must "deny himself." This simply means that the individual gives up all control over his life and places that responsibility into the hands of Christ. It is a refusing of acknowledging oneself. To deny oneself is the practical application of what the Apostle Paul writes in Galatians 2:20, "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me." For Paul, Christ was the very source of his life. To be in Christ is to die to oneself, and that is the ultimate in self-denial.
IV. We must choose to fulfill our daily responsibilities of being in Christ.
Jesus said that this individual must "take up his cross daily." There are vast responsibilities for a child of God. These responsibilities are to be met. We have a responsibility to be holy for without holiness we will not see the Lord. We have a responsibility to fulfill the Great Commission, for if our Gospel be hid, then it is hid to those that are lost. But our greatest responsibility is to be willing to give our very lives for the Gospel. That is what Christ means by taking up our cross. His cross was the sin of the world and the punishment of that sin by a holy and just God. He willingly took up that cross and bore it on Golgotha’s hill. His blood was shed for our atonement, and His life was given in our stead. The Bible states that there is no greater love than a man lay down his life for his friends. Christ was willing to do all of this for you. What are you willing to do for Him? Jesus states in Matthew 10:38, "And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me."
But this is not a responsibility that you can ever put down. No, no, a thousand times no! This cross must be born daily. Everyday your life is to be reflective of one who has died to self and now lives for Christ. You may never have to come to the place where you will have to make that toughest of all decisions, deny the Gospel and live, or choose Christ and die. No, you may never stand before the firing squad. But then again, you already have. Christ has come to your door and knocked and you made a choice. You either choose to allow Him to come in, which means that you have chosen death to yourself and life through Him, or you have chosen to leave the door unanswered in essence stating that I am not willing to give up my own life to take His.
What about it today? Is your life reflective of one who has chosen to put Christ first? Have you placed Christ in your daily routine or is He placed on reserve until the time that you need Him? Jesus will only accept one place, and that place is first in your heart, life, and everyday actions. He simply will not accept any other position. If you haven’t given him this position yet, you still can. You must confess your sins, ask Jesus to forgive them, and open the door of your heart and allow Him to come in and take first place in your life. If you do this, you’ll be saved. What about it?
