Deny Yourself...

I have had this verse stuck in my head and heart for the last few weeks – even our Youth Minister used it in his talk tonight. It has revolved around in my head so much that I have actually been trying to figure out how to escape it. Since I can’t get away from my own head, the only option is figure out why God is reminding me of it over and over - what's so important about this verse that He would plant it in my mind for days – weeks. I'm being told something, but what?

Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me." ~~ Matthew 16:24; Mark 8:34 and Luke 9:23 this is Christ’s response to Peter’s declaration that Jesus is the Messiah.

This verse is in the Bible three times - So many important things in God's world involve the number three - Father, Son & Holy Spirit - Mind, Body, Soul - Holy Holy Holy - The coming of Christ was in 333 prophecies - Jesus had a 3 year ministry - He was 33 when Crucified - in the tomb 3 days - etc. So the fact that this scripture appears three times must mean that it is not only important, it is very important to the Christian walk.

Jesus is telling "whoever" what to do to be his disciple - deny self, take up cross, and follow him. Simple right? I don't think so. God has really been drilling the "Deny yourself" part into me for the last few days. Deny Self - Does this mean to act like I don't exist or deny who I am? What does “denying self” mean? How does one deny them self? I decided to look up the word deny...as you read down, prepare to be blown away by the last listing.

–verb (used with object), -nied, -ny·ing.
1. to state that (something declared or believed to be true) is not true: to deny an accusation.
2. to refuse to agree or accede to: to deny a petition.
3. to withhold the possession, use, or enjoyment of: to deny access to secret information.
4. to withhold something from, or refuse to grant a request of: to deny a beggar.
5. to refuse to recognize or acknowledge; disown; disavow; repudiate: to deny one's gods.
6. to withhold (someone) from accessibility to a visitor: The secretary denied his employer to all those without appointments.
7. Obsolete . to refuse to take or accept.
—Idiom
8. deny oneself, to refrain from satisfying one's desires or needs; practice self-denial.

Years of Sunday school have taught me that denying myself means to allow Christ to shine through - that sounds so sweet and pretty. But I think it's harder than that. I think what Jesus is telling us is to deny ourselves the self-satisfying desires of our flesh on this earth. He's telling us to say no to the lie the world feeds us, "if it feels good, do it". Is it sweet? Is it pretty? Does it make us feel good? Does denying ourselves accomplish all of our wants and desires? No - denying ourselves accomplishes His wants and desires. It shows His power and His glory. After all, we're dust - He's God. If we are to make a difference, live a life that is set apart, we need to set ourselves apart. We need to learn how to deny what is flesh and what is worldly and live a life that is completely against our nature - against "how we were born" - because we are all born sinners.

Then, if that isn't hard enough, we are told to pick up our cross. What is a cross - it's death. Jesus died on his cross - he expects us to die on ours. Die to our weakness, die to our sin, die to all the idols we put before Him. Again, not pretty and not easy. Not something that makes us feel good - this is work and it's hard and sometimes it's going to hurt.

Lastly he tells those who want to be his disciples to follow him...where was he going? He was headed to his death on that cross. This Christian life is not easy. It goes against our very nature. Christ is telling us that the cost of following him and being a disciple of his is refraining from fulfilling our every physical, fleshly desire, to carry our heavy burden to the point of death while doing our very best to live as he lived.

Do you claim the name of Christ? Do you want to be known as His? Well then that means denying yourself - not giving into every urge or desire. It means not hiding behind the “I was born this way” lie because we were all born the same way – sinners. He requires that we be over-comers because He is an over-comer. Are you carrying your cross? Have you decided to walk the road that leads to the death of selfishness? Have you decided to really follow Jesus? Or do you just like the pretty parts of being a "Christian"?

The really great news is that He doesn’t expect us to do this all alone. Because of His great love for us, he has provided us the power to live in victory every day of our lives. God sent His Son to show us how and to live the life before us. He was the master of denying himself – God Almighty in skin living as a carpenter, rabbi, traveling preacher who was mocked, chased, used, abused, and eventually killed. He was God – at any moment he could have quit denying himself and gone back to glory, but he picked up his cross and carried it all the way to death. His resurrection three days later has given us the power to live this life boldly and without excuse.

Matthew 16:24 is our calling. We are instructed to live a life worthy of that calling…Are you? Harder question…am I?