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And He (Jesus) said to all, “If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me.”
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Jesus had just revealed to His disciples in no uncertain terms that He was indeed the Christ, the promised Messiah. It was He who would suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed. He had come to give His life dying on the cross so that we might have life—a life free from the bondage of sin!

The Word of God would continue on detailing what taking up our cross following Jesus, being like Him {Eph.5:1} entails. The cross was an all too common sight in those ancient times, so the horror of that torturous death was widely known especially in the mid-East. Today I see people all over walking about wearing crosses, as often as not as a decoration, not a declaration of their faith. People should see in us the love of God who had given His Son for us as we die to ourselves and live for Christ. I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. {Gal.2:20}

As the Lord continued on saying, “For what is a man profited if he gains the whole world, and loses or forfeits himself?” {Lk.9:25} In the wonderful Sermon on the Mount He instructed us to store up our treasures in heaven for where our treasure is, there will our heart be also. {Mat.6:20-21} That is quite contrary to what has been taught by so much of the church especially since the time of Constantine in Rome. That message has become all the more sophisticated and sadly effective in our time with the rise of so many of the churches preaching a ‘prosperity gospel’ always desiring and seeking the riches of the world.

I heard a saying some time ago that rings all too true: The church started as a fellowship in Israel, became a philosophy in Greece, became a culture in Rome and then became an enterprise in the United States. Quite a contrast to what Jesus said in today’s verse! And of course an enterprise is just another word for a business. We cannot buy the gifts of God, and certainly should not sell His gifts. They are free to us having already been paid for by the blood of the Lamb. {Eph. 2:8-9} We should not be convinced to trade the glory of God for the glitz of the world! Be on guard against mammon, the great desire for wealth. {Mat.6:24}

Let us all sing a rousing chorus of that wonderful hymn, “I Surrender All”. That is an absolutely wonderful sentiment that was written by Judson W. Van DeVenter and put to music by Winfield S. Weeden in 1896. Warning, warning: Do not sing it unless you mean it! We are responsible for every word that comes out of our mouths! {Mat.12:36}

“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the men of old gained approval.” (Hebrews 11:1-2)

THE APPROVAL OF GOD IS OUR TREASURE