By Deacon Lynn Waldeck
“ And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it.” (Mark 8:34-35)
In today’s reading, Jesus tells us how to follow Him. He said that we cannot just do what we want to do. He said we should do what He wants us to do. Sometimes that will be hard, just like it was hard for Jesus to die on the cross for us. But if we do what God wants, we will be saved.
Jesus said that nothing on earth is better than being saved and following him. He said we should not do what we want while we’re alive. He said we should be willing to suffer for him in order to follow him. This is not always easy. As humans we are distracted and think of ourselves and what we want, not what we need. But each day we are blessed to start again because of Jesus’ love for us. We pray…
Thank you God that Jesus loved us so much he was willing to take up his cross and suffer for us. Help us to be willing to “take up our own cross” and suffer for Jesus. Thank you God for your great love and for your Holy Spirit who will give us strength and joy even when following you is hard to do. – In Jesus’ name, Amen!