The Question That Stops Traffic
There are 4 words which are God’s best for every person. We’ll get to the question that stops traffic later.
The words come from Jesus. Call them the life forever plan. Words from Jesus are never empty, or meaningless. They are forever truth, eternal wisdom, and most of all filled with perfect love. Actually, the words of the Bible passage for this devotional are frightening…especially if we forget Jesus spoke them in love.
“Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost? For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, of him the Son of Man will be ashamed when He comes in His own glory, and in His Father’s, and of the holy angels. But I tell you truly, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the kingdom of God.””
Luke 9:23-27
What are those 4 words?
Deny…
Take Up…
Follow…
Jesus was clear. To follow Him we are to give control of our life to Him. (Deny self) We are to commit our lives to Him-take up our cross. (Even at the risk of rejection by others-and possible death) Finally, Jesus calls us live our lives through His example and teaching. (This means follow Him.) With a little thought we see why this call of Jesus is frightening. To deny self seems unwise. Then Jesus speaks words which remove fear. Read verses 24-25. Jesus speaks plainly, logically…100% truth.
When eternity is on the line-Neither of us can save our life.
We save our eternal soul when we “give” ourselves to Jesus.
Now for the question that stops traffic. Jesus asks this most powerful question. It is the question that when honestly answered should do more than stop traffic, it should cause us to shudder in fear. It is a question ignored by most of us in the busyness of life. Here it is:
“For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost?”
Luke 9:25
Gain the whole world…we hear of those with unbelievable wealth. We may envy them. Most of the time it seems that great wealth is the key to happiness. Not according to Jesus. And He knows of what He speaks. He is reminding us that we may have all of the world’s wealth and YET lose our soul. Riches on earth are not the answer! Go back to the words of Jesus-the traffic stopping question…what profit is there in being the wealthiest person in the world? Earthly wealth is never found in a casket, even less an urn. Keep in mind there is an eternity, and earthly riches are not found there. Don’t forget, you and I will one day be in eternity. All of our earthly riches will not.
What is at risk here? Why should this question stop traffic-better still-stop you and me in our tracks? The answer is forfeit of self. We know to forfeit is to lose. Think about the answer to this question: What happens when we forfeit/lose ourselves? How does the thought of losing yourself-forever appeal to you?
Have no fear. Following Jesus is an action filled with hope. It is an action where we LOSE our life to SAVE it. Hope for now and even better hope forever. So back when we started:
Deny self.
Take up your cross (be willing to be rejected).
Follow Jesus.
Jesus has a plan for life today and for the unseen life to come…call it: