What do you want?

"Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. Whosoever will save his life shall lose it, but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's, the same shall save it."

I have been studying this passage for the past week or so, and one thing that I didn't notice at first glance completely changed my perspective on the verse when I finally saw it. It is found in a phrase that occurs twice: "Whosoever will."

Both times, "whosoever will" in the Greek means, whoever wants to or purposes to. 

It's not enough! 
"Whosoever will come after me..."

In our American church, it's easy to become introspective and look for a desire in yourself to come after Jesus. You might be asked, "do you want to live for Jesus?" and you say "Yes." Somehow that answer is enough, and we need not worry further as to our spiritual state.



But Jesus is saying here, "It's not enough to just want to follow me. You have to take the next step!" Here's what He says to do:

1. Deny yourself - Set aside your personal desires, and the many things in your life that bring you pleasure. Be willing to give them up at any time. Live surrendered to Christ.

2. Take up your cross - Choose to die daily, to live selfless, unrelentingly for Jesus. Have the attitude of John, who said, "He must increase, I must decrease." (John 1)

3. Follow Jesus - Choose to live your life like Jesus. (i.e. become a friend of sinners, love unconditionally, give of yourself, risk your reputation, your future, your goals, and even your life for the sake of the truth, etc.) More so, choose to live your life with Jesus. Abide in Him and let Him influence you!

You can't live for Jesus unless you are with Him, dear Christian. He is the source of power, strength, joy, wisdom, and everything you and I need!

A desire that makes you useless
"Whosoever will save his life..."

In contrast to the first occurrence, this desire brings about one terrible consequence. Jesus says that if you want to save your life, you will lose it.

When I first read that phrase, "save his life", the picture that instantly comes to mind is being rescued from danger. But the Greek goes deeper than that! Save also means to keep safe and sound. Life can mean not just physical life, but the seat of your feelings and affections- your soul. And that word lose has the idea of rendering useless and being ruined, being put out of the way entirely.

So if your desire is to protect yourself from being hurt, you make yourself useless for God.

That desire for safety, for never leaving your comfort zone to serve Jesus, that desire to make sure you are "comfortable" in your life, to never take a risk, is a debilitating desire, because when God directs you to do something that would bring Him glory, your response will be disobedience.

So, what do you do with a desire like that?

"Whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's, the same shall save it."
Set yourself aside. Don't take thought for your life. Whether you will be hurt or not, whether people will treat you well or not -set aside that fear of man- the promise is God will protect you. He becomes the one who comforts you when you're hurt, who protects your very life from danger, He becomes the Upholder of your soul.

Jesus said, "seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you." (Mt. 6:33)

It is not that your life doesn't matter, dear Christian, it is that God wants to be the One to take care of it, so that you can be free to serve Him! Give Him your all, and walk in surrender to Him. Let Him be your one desire. Give all of your natural desires to Him and let Him transform them into godly desires!