Young Adults' Group

The Challenge Of The Call Of The Lord

by Pastor Mark
August 15, 2019

The call of the Lord

A significant passage that has and continue to impact me is the Lord’s call to His disciples. After the Lord Jesus revealed to His disciples that He was going to be crucified and to be resurrected, He gave a special call to them. It was not a call to salvation. The disciples were already following the Lord Jesus. However, this was a call to give of themselves so much more as His disciples. Let us be challenged by the Lord’s call to give of ourselves so much more.

The call to take up our cross

“Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.” (Luke 9:23)

1. It begins with a desire to follow the Lord

A desire to follow the Lord is a good start. There is a sense of purpose in coming after the Lord. However, our desire must lead to other things.

2. Denying oneself

The Lord challenged the disciples to deny themselves. There is the use of the imperative, to indicate that this is a command. There should be a denial of self, to say “No” to our wants and wishes. Let us be challenged to deny ourselves of the things of the world.

3. Taking up the cross

The Lord also challenged us to take up our cross daily. The cross represents hardship and sufferings. Just as the Lord Jesus had to carry His cross, we too have to take up our own cross. It is a cross that we have to take up daily, like keeping the discipline of praying and studying the Lord’s Word. Let us be challenged to take up our cross.

4. Following the Lord fully

Unless we are willing to do these things stated by the Lord, we cannot fully follow Him.

The paradox of life

“For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it.” (Luke 9:24)

The Lord taught further about the paradox of life. When we try to save our life, we will lose it. We desire to enjoy the physical things of life, thinking that we have saved our life. However, instead of saving it, we end up losing it. When we lose our life, we will save it. We lose the things of life by denying ourselves of them. However, we gain what real life is. This is the paradox of life. While we lose our life because of the Lord Jesus, we gain real, spiritual life with Him.

The profit perspective

“For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost?” (Luke 9:25) There is no profit in gaining the world. The world seems to offer much, and we think we are gaining as a result. This is what many in the world are caught up in. However, at what cost? He could lose everything. If one loses his life by being caught in sin and being drawn away from God, has he not lost much? There is no gain. Let us be challenged to follow the Lord Jesus correctly, to deny ourselves and to take our cross daily. Let us be challenged to give up the things of the world for the sake of Christ that we may follow and serve Him fully.

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