Hey guys, no one's been writing much for a while, huh?
That's okay, but I just hope people still check this site. Because I think we have a good thing going. :)
Anyway, Easter has just passed... and during the Sunday service a few days ago, I thought of something that really made me stop and think, and I just wanted to share that with everyone while I still remember, and while I still feel strongly about it.
We celebrate Easter to remember the death and resurrection of Jesus, right? Every Christian must be familiar with that. At least everyone who makes sure they know what they're getting into.
Jesus died and rose again after three days, and this signifies that He has conquered death. Of course, it goes without saying that this is important, because for us it is the means to our salvation. That we no longer need to die for our sins, because He has accomplished it and lived. And so we too, shall live, if we put our trust in Him.
However, His death has always signified for me so much more. When I first became serious about following Him, many verses from the Bible impressed on me that to be a Christian is not just to know my Bible verses, but to live it. And there are many verses that say that to be a Christian is to have died with Christ and to have risen with him anew.
Isn't that what baptism is about? To symbolize our dying to our old self, and to be "born again" in Him? Did Paul not say that we have died to our old sinful nature, so that we do not have to be slaves to sin anymore? Did Jesus not promise that if we hold onto our lives, we will lose it...but if we lose our lives for His sake, we shall find it? This Easter, has that thought crossed your mind? That for us who follow Jesus, His death and resurrection is a reminder of our own death to ourselves and a new life in Christ?
What does that mean for you? To die as Jesus did, and to be born again?
For me, it has meant many different things at many different moments in my life.
Undeniably, it had meant changing my way of life. Because I had been given a new life, so I must live it in a different way I had lived my old. It had meant struggling to change areas in my life and overcoming them sooner or later. It had meant changing how I thought, what I believed, and how I acted. It had meant suffering and letting go of treasures (putting them to death), and it had meant carrying my cross and following Him to my own crucifixion. And it still means those for me today. It will mean the same in the years ahead.
If one thinks about whether one is willing to give all up for Christ, to put to death everything for Him... If we are honest enough, I am sure the answer would not be so simple. And for me it has never been simple. Death and resurrection has been very quick in some respects of my life. But I think we can all attest to the feeling of death (in some parts of us) being drawn out, of it being more painful than we had expected, of it taking longer than we ever wanted it to be. And of us wondering how long its going to be before the tomb can be rolled away and we experience that ray of light showing us new things that lie ahead.
And so why do we Christians do it? If you understand what I'm saying... my question is, why have you done it? Why have you allowed yourself to die alongside with Christ? Isn't death painful? Isn't crucifixion excruciating? If you've never done it before, who can blame you? Who can blame the desire to avoid needless suffering? Who can blame you for not taking up your cross, when being crucified isn't something that God forces you into? When you are the one who has to willingly nail yourself up there?
I guess my question, to be more direct, is this... What makes it worth it? What makes giving up our treasures, our ways, our struggles for Him worth it? Have you ever gone far enough to figure out what makes it worth it? Or do you maybe feel that following Him is to suffer for His sake and nothing more?
For me... even though the process is complicated, my answer is always simple. For me, what makes taking up my cross worth it... what makes putting myself to death bearable... is exactly that idea. That I am dying to myself.
Because truly, the parts of myself that isn't Him... those are the parts I secretly hate about myself the most. Those are the parts I despise, that I fear, that I'm ashamed of, that I try and try to escape from but can't. Those are the parts of myself that think only of me, the parts of me that keep taking and taking but never getting enough. Those are the parts of me that make me feel insecure, that make me doubt myself, that make me afraid of everything. Those are the parts that cause me to say things and act in ways that hurt those I care about. Those are the parts of me that keep me bound to myself, that imprison me from being free to live this life the way I long to live.
The verses that always reminds me of this is John 10:10, where Jesus says, "I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." And the other is the one I mentioned earlier, wherein Jesus says, "Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it."
For me, those promises are what make dying to myself worth it. They may seem like impossible promises when the stakes are too high and too risky, and involves more suffering than one is willing to endure. But having risked following Him a few times already, I know that death always brings forth new life, and this new life can set a person free. And so it is my prayer to be able to follow Him and carry my cross through every valley of death He leads me through, because through it, He will mold me into someone who will be able to enjoy this short life to its very fullest.
Those were my thoughts this Easter. And so, I hope with this you also begin to think of your own relationship with Jesus.
Are you carrying your cross? If so, why? What makes it worth carrying?
If not... what stops you? Is the fear of loss greater than what will be gained?
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