Then He said to the crowd “if any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross daily, and follow Me.” (Luke 9: 23; NLT).
The Bible records that Jesus Christ came to the world so as to seek and save the lost sheep of Israel and, by extension, all who would believe in Him. He went about all Galilee preaching and teaching and also healed all who were oppressed by the devil. Resultantly, many people from many nations were bringing those who had health challenges to Him, and He healed them (Matthew 4: 23 – 25). At some points, He fed the people, He cast out demons and did many miracles such that people began to wonder.
Among those who benefited from His healings, provisions and deliverance, some sought to follow Him. It was at this point that Jesus made it clear to them that the cost of following Him was high and it is still high today.
Even before Jesus was crucified, He had told His disciples that He was going to die a gruesome death on the cross, though He would still rise on the third day, to eternal glory. The world hated Christ and the same way they would hate His followers and as such would kill many of them as they did to their master.
Unlike the devil and his agents that would cast baits before people to lure them to follow him and his demonic agents, without telling them the cost of following him, God would always show those who would follow Him the implication of doing so. “The righteous person faces many troubles, but the LORD comes to the rescue each time.” (Psalm 34: 19). “Yes, and everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution”.
Children of God, we must know that the moment we decided to follow Christ, we equally chose to suffer with and die with Him. Therefore, let us do away with self as we surrender totally to Jesus our body, soul and spirit. We need to die to self, the world and all it offers. We should always look unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith (Heb. 12: 2) and He will give us the grace to run the race and in the end, we shall receive the crown of righteousness.
May God give us the grace to be faithful till the end, in Jesus name.