15 March | Youth
«If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.» Matthew 16:24
It is dangerous to be a disciple of Jesus. Everything that happened to the Master is repeated in the disciple's life. The path to Jesus always passes through Calvary. There is no discipleship without the cross.
Today it is cool to be a believer. Christians are respected. They occupy prominent positions in society. They interfere in the drafting of laws and participate in political discussions. If you go to a Christian school, most of your classmates share your beliefs. And, if you study at a school where you are a minority, people “do not even need” to know about your commitment.
In the beginning of the Christian church, it was not like this. When people decided to follow Christ, they were treated like the sewer of the world. Some were mistreated, dragged before the authorities, arrested and condemned for the “crime” of loving Jesus.
There is a cross in the path of discipleship. It represents the lordship of Christ. The apostle Paul said, “For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified” (1 Cor 2:2). Before using someone, God takes them to the cross first. Our ego must be crucified.
Ellen White stated: “Everyone who enters the pearly gates of the city of God will enter there as a conqueror, and his greatest conquest will have been the conquest of self” (Testimonies, v. 9, p. 182).
Taking the self to the cross is not easy. Some think that discipleship is simply stopping listening to certain music, abandoning certain foods, or stopping visiting certain environments. That is the easy part.
It is much easier to give up things than attitudes. It is not easy to remove the self from the throne. Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote: “When Christ calls a man, he bids him to come and die.’” What about you? Are you willing to answer this call?