Sing a New Song!
The answer is: Yes! In this passage, there are four challenging but necessary steps to take if we want to lead a surrendered life following Christ our Lord:
- Be open to surrender
- Deny yourself
- Take up his cross
- Follow him
The first step is perhaps the hardest one. Please note Christ’s subtle invitation to join him: “If anyone would come after me.” Here is an open invitation to surrender to, and walk through life with, the Creator of the universe and the Savior to sinners.
As wonderful as that sounds, it is hard to do, for surrender goes against the grain of our stubborn, sinful hearts. For a non-believer, it takes admitting that you are a sinner in need of a Savior and embracing Jesus Christ by faith, receiving his eternal, loving grace, which enables a person to surrender in the first place. As for me, it took many years to surrender to him.
For believers, your Christian walk reveals that you have the greatest Advocate (1 John 2:1) and Friend that you will ever have in Jesus (John 15:15). But he has expectations that are for your good, and he lays out some very specific conditions to his disciples on how to follow. This brings us to our next step.
Continue to listen to “So Good” by Lady Bri