Daily Devotional
Word of the Day
A Lifetime of Self-Denial
Pastor Scott
Tuesday, March 08, 2005
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"For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it?"
(Luke 14:28)
Galatians 6:14 says, "But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world." I boast in nothing but this cross. The old songwriter said, "The emblem of suffering and shame; how I love that old cross." But that statement is a statement of faith. It can't just be an emotional statement or delighting just in the dying of Jesus, because the cross isn't limited to Jesus' unique death. It's inclusive of each and every one of us if we are going to taste the life of God. To know the power of His resurrection, we have to know the fellowship of His sufferings. The sufferings weren't just physical, as horrible as that was. The greatest suffering of all was the separation from the One that He loved the most. The greatest suffering for you is the separation of the one you love most--you. The death of the cross is a horrible experience that brings wonderful benefits. Everything about the cross is absolutely paradoxical, so it can't be embraced by natural wisdom. It doesn't line up with anything that you learned in school or in natural relationships from the world's perspective. The cross is foolishness to those that perish, but for those of us that have tasted the life of God it is our delight and what we glory or boast in. But don't think for a moment that this is going to be an easy journey. You and I are called to a lifetime of a horrible death: self-denial. Self will never bow its knee without resistance. There will never be a time where there is not a resistance to this death process that you're involved in. It is not easy, and it never stops.
In identifying with Jesus on the cross, we need to count the cost. Let a man take into great consideration and count the cost before beginning this journey, this endeavor. Are we really ready and willing to embark on this journey? For some of you, you would be better off if you just got out now and save yourself the trouble. Don't enter this journey without consciously counting the cost.
I will boast in nothing but the cross of Jesus Christ, to whom the world is crucified to me, and I to the world. All that's in the world is the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. The world is not a political system or made up of the masses that are eating and drinking for tomorrow they die. The world, as referred to in the Scripture is the kingdom of darkness. Though it includes all of the mass of humanity, the world always speaks of individuals who are lords to themselves: every man doing what is right in his own eyes. It is a community, but it's every specific individual being a purposeful rebel, dwelling among others but using them for their own gain and wanting to usurp, exalt and dominate every person around them. The world is an individual made up of innumerable individuals who are self-willed, independent, prideful, and truly without question gods in their own eyes. That's a little glimpse at humanity; that's who you are.
When we talk about the cross and being crucified to the world, we are not talking about amusements, political correctness, or national allegiance. Being crucified to the world is being crucified to self-exaltation and selfness, the death of ego, because that's all that's in the world--excess, lust, the strong desire of the eye.