9:23

This week was a phenomenal one here on the “island”; we got to hear from Brian Wang, one of our directors. Brian (aka B. Wang) was a college football player, therefor he’s super tall and intimidating looking, but he is one of the funniest people I know and he makes the best omelets ever, AND his sweet sweet wife is the best small group leader here at Link Year ;).

And he said to all “if anyone would come after me let him take up his cross daily and follow me.” –Luke 9:23

I have heard this verse so many times but this week we focused on what this verse means to our lives. This verse is a daily reminder that we are called to give our life to Christ daily. We have to deny the worldly desires we face each day and choose to follow Christ. It is not always easy but we have to make the conscious effort to do so. Christ laid down his life for me; it is selfish of me not to do what he has asked of me. These words are written in red, Jesus is asking that I would come after him and deny myself and take up my cross daily to follow him. Following Christ is about having a relationship with him. Relationships build over time and require communication; therefore it is necessary to be in the word and prayer daily to cultivate my relationship with the Lord.

We need 3 things to follow Christ: self-denial, complete dedication, and willing obedience. Brian expressed that the cost of following Christ in a world that drags you down is a balancing act. We have to learn to balance everything in our life but always remember that Christ comes before all other things. At 211° water is hot, at 212° water boils and with boiling water comes steam, and steam can power a locomotive. That one extra degree makes all the difference. It’s easy to give up when things get tough, but we have to stop quitting when things get hard! “ To get what we’ve never had, we must do what we’ve never done.” We have to die to ourselves daily and go that extra degree so that we can continue to grow closer in our walk with the Lord. We have to have complete dedication (dedication is devoting or setting aside for a particular purpose), to be completely dedicated you don’t have to show anyone anything; it’s all about your purpose. Lastly we have to have willing obedience. When God calls us we have to be ready to obey willingly not because we feel that we must. Genesis 22 shows us a great example of willing obedience when Abraham is willing to sacrifice his only son Isaac without questioning God even for a minute. I just want to encourage everyone to go that extra degree and take up your cross daily to follow Christ, don’t let the world drag you down, persevere through the good and the bad!