“IF ANYONE DESIRES TO COME AFTER ME, LET HIM DENY HIMSELF.” —MATTHEW 16:24
Can you disagree with God’s Word? Many do, even professing Christians. They disagree with Scripture’s standards of right and wrong, or the lifestyles it approves or disapproves. They might like some Scriptures and reject others on the grounds that they seem unloving and intolerant.
Can God’s Word stand up to questions, scrutiny, and varied interpretation? Of course! But your view of God’s Word will influence how you accept or reject its meaning.
Do you look at the laws of God as harsh rules, or the words of a Father who is our Creator?
What a different perspective you will have if you know they are the words of a loving Father who says, I love you; you are dear to me and I want nothing but your happiness. I want you to have love, joy, peace, and fulfillment. I want you to walk in the light.
You have an enemy who is always trying to rob you, steal from you, kill you, abuse you, and destroy you. To limited human understanding, the devil’s ways might appear loving and compassionate, but in the end, they lead to heartache, deep darkness, and destruction.
God wants a relationship with you as your Father. And the only way that relationship will work is if you allow Him to be the Father and you become His child through Jesus.
You have to deny yourself and follow Him.
You can decide to be your own center of right and wrong, morality and immorality, and place yourself in the number one position of authority in your life. You can follow your inner self, your “truth,” and what you think will make you happy. But you will not find what you are looking for.
Jesus tells us where that path leads: “Whoever desires to save his life will lose it” (Matthew 16:25). Doing things your way will cause you to lose love, joy, peace, your identity…you will lose everything. But He also tells us how to gain all our hearts really crave: “Whoever loses his life for My sake will find it” (Matthew 16:25).
It’s that simple. We can have our own truth and follow our own way and lose everything. Or we can accept God’s truth —His Word — and follow Him and gain it all. The choice is ours.
“The purpose of the Bible? Salvation. God’s highest passion is to get His children home. His book, the Bible, describes His plan of salvation. The purpose of the Bible is to proclaim God’s plan and passion to save His children.” —Max Lucado
