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Deny Yourself
“If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. What profit is there for one to gain the whole world yet lose or forfeit himself?”
There is a belief that truly you can have it all. That is to say, you can have lots of stuff and that will make for a very good life. If only that were true. It is, in fact, only when we deny ourselves that we can really see things are they are.
How can I say that? Because there are unhappy and lonely people everywhere. There are people who seem to have it all, yet they ask, “Is this all there is?” Very wealthy people can go through lots of relationships, only to find them unfulfilling and unsatisfying.
The Lord Jesus offers a different way of life, one which we embrace during this season of Lent. “If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” This is the paradox in life. It is in losing ourselves in Jesus that we find ourselves. It is when we give, then we receive. And in dying we are born to eternal life.
This is what the season of Lent is all about. It is to discover that life is not all about us. I cannot believe that the only thing I have to concern myself with, is myself. That isolates me and separates me from others.
I can work my whole life to gain lots of stuff. But, to what end? What will happen to all of this stuff when I die? If I remain disconnected from others, then how is it I can find that sense of community that fulfills? Perhaps most importantly, if I am seeking to gain the whole world, my quest means ignoring Jesus and what he wants for me. And that leads not to life, but to death.
So, deny yourself.
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