Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.” — MATTHEW 16:24–25
Some pastors train their young people to say a prayer for salvation. Others promise comfort, wealth, and worldly peace. But Jesus Himself promised hardship, self-denial, and even death for those who would follow Him. Jesus had His eyes set on something much greater than this life, an eternal life with God in heaven.
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Jesus wants you to think eternally. Every day that you wake thinking about Jesus, you are instantly led to think about eternity. Though it is easy to waste days, and even months and years, chasing after worldly pleasures, Jesus calls each believer to deny himself and his hopes and dreams and to put his hope and dreams in eternity.
Recently, one of the college students in my ministry put a note on the door of our house, informing us that she would not be following Christ anymore. Sadly, she counted the cost of being a disciple of Christ and she chose to follow the world instead. She recognized the difficulty of being a Christ-follower and did not want to give up what the world could offer.
Some pastors train their young people to say a prayer for salvation. Others promise comfort, wealth, and worldly peace. But Jesus Himself promised hardship, self-denial, and even death for those who would follow Him. Jesus had His eyes set on something much greater than this life, an eternal life with God in heaven. This is the gospel we must preach to those around us.
Every morning we wake up, we must fix our eyes on eternity and must live every moment with this truth in our minds. Only then will we be able to, with the help of the Holy Spirit, pick up our cross and follow our Savior. Only then will we be able to lose our life. And only then will we store up treasure for the life to come.