Begin with 2 minutes of silence and stillness before God.

In these verses, Jesus has told the disciples for the first time of His impending death on the cross and resurrection. Then He clearly lays out what it means to be His follower.

1. Deny Ourselves: We have to turn away from our own will and instead pursue God’s will. We have to repent from our sinful, selfish ways and turn toward God. We can no longer be the Lord of our lives.
2. Take Up Our Cross: We must live each day for Christ – willing to suffer humiliation, pain, rejection, and inconvenience for the sake of God. Not once – but DAILY.
3. Follow Him: We are following in Christ’s footsteps, going in whichever direction He leads. We are no longer living in charge, but rather in obedience. If we are willing to go wherever He goes, that even means following Him to death.

Jesus’ words in this passage make it clear that being His disciple is no small task. Everything must be fully surrendered to Him. And rather than inviting us into a life of health and wealth, we are to partake in suffering. We are supposed to be willing to lose everything for the sake of gaining life through Him.

That’s heavy stuff, right? Maybe you’re reading this thinking, “If I knew all of that, I probably wouldn’t have walked down the aisle at VBS and accepted Jesus when I was 10.” And so the obvious question is: Why would anyone follow Jesus if it means submitting to these requirements?

Because this is the only way to find life! Jesus is calling us to Himself, and there we will find true life and salvation. And the path to Him and to the life He offers is through death - first His death and then death to ourselves, surrendering to Him.

Reflection:

• Is there an area of your life where you are currently saying “no” to Jesus?
• Do you seek approval from others instead of from Christ because of the pain you might feel if rejected?
• Is it hard for you to follow Jesus because it seems too costly or inconvenient?

Take 2 minutes to reflect in silence.

Family Application: Luke 9

Author: Dahlia Landers

In today’s reading, Jesus teaches the disciples how to listen, live, and love like Him. He sent out the twelve disciples and gave them power and authority to heal people. When they came back, Jesus welcomed them and spoke to them about the Kingdom of God. As it was getting late in the afternoon, the twelve came to Jesus and asked Him to send the people away so they could find food and shelter. There weren’t any drive-thrus for people to get a meal, and there were over 5,000 thousand people in the crowd. Jesus told the disciples to feed them, but they only had two fish and five loaves. Then Jesus took the fish and loaves and looked up to Heaven and gave thanks for them and broke them. The disciples began to give the food out. All the people were satisfied and there were twelve baskets left! Can you imagine just how much food was needed to feed this crowd? Only God could make this happen!

About eight days later, Jesus went with three of the disciples up to a mountain to pray. His face changed, and His clothes became very bright as He was praying. Moses and Elijah appeared and were talking to Jesus. The disciples were amazed by what they were seeing. A cloud appeared and covered them, and they heard a voice that said, “This is my Son, whom I have chosen; listen to Him.” When the voice was gone and they looked at Jesus, He was alone again.

Sometime later, the disciples began arguing about who would be the greatest after Jesus was gone. Jesus told them that the one who took care of others and was the least of these would be the greatest.

• The disciples got to live alongside Jesus to learn first-hand how He wants us to love and help others and how to go through our own struggles. Do you think the disciples understood the cost of following Jesus? What was the cost of following Jesus?
• Prayer: Jesus, thank You for loving us and giving Your life for us. We love You. Thank You for these amazing stories of Your life. Help us to listen and believe in Your word and to live our lives for You.