Daily Devotional
Word of the Day
Evidence of the Crucified Life
Pastor Scott
Sunday, June 06, 2004
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"Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me."
(Matthew 16:24)
"...If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me." Self-denial is the evidence of the crucified life. When is the last time you denied yourself of anything? I don't mean that you denied yourself by not eating that thirteenth donut to bring your body under. That's not denying yourself. Isaiah 58 speaks of the "chosen fast" of God. Fasting becomes part of a disciplined life because our bodies crave food. We need it. We can abuse our bodies, but we can't do that, for our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. Some worship their bodies, but we can't do that because we're to have no other gods before Him. We understand from the Scriptures that bodily exercise profits little (1 Tim. 4:8). If you're more into exercising your physical man than you are your spiritual man, your life is out of order and you need to deny yourself. Is it harder for you to go without your workout than it is to go without your devotions? If it is, then you're worshipping the wrong god.
The chosen fast of Isaiah 58 is to abstain from this that you might honor God with your time or your offering. The key to this is denying and abstaining from something that you put value in so that you can spend time in something that you put more value in. It's not obligatory. You don't have to; you choose to. You're blessed to get the opportunity to put yourself down that you might lift others up. It is more blessed to give than to receive. Do you believe that? We teach our children that as little kids. Did you as a child at Christmas really believe that? The flesh doesn't believe that. You won't convince kids that it's more blessed to give. They are receivers! But as you mature you understand the principle it is more blessed to give. As you get older and start giving with your own time and efforts, out of your own volition and endeavor--not Dad giving you five bucks to go buy something for Mom--you get excited watching that person open or receive the gift and the value that it carries with it. To the mature person it is more blessed to give than to receive.
"For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake..." (Matt. 16:25). There's the motivation. It's not so you can feel better about yourself. It's not so you can appear to be more spiritual. It's not so you can in fact become more spiritual, and the more spiritual you are, the more God is going to bless you. Then it's starting to be about you--your spirituality, your stature, your reputation, your propensity to be blessed because of your obedience. But you're not obeying; you're just following the letter of the law. Obedience is an attitude of heart.
True biblical denial, Jesus goes on to teach, is the fact that we are abstaining from something that we value because we value His reputation more. It's for His sake. It's for the glory of God. It's to honor Him. It's all about the Lord. How can you honor Him more in the offering up of your time and talents? Everything you choose is based upon what will bring Jesus more honor in your life.