Edge 10-24-07 - " Taking up his Cross"

This past Wednesday we had another great EDGE meeting at the church. Joel challenged us to really think about Matthew 16:24

Then Jesus said to his disciples, "if anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it."

During our conversation we all talked about this statement being a struggle for all of us. Do we really deny ourselves and pick up the cross and follow our savior? What does this mean? If we declare Jesus is the son of God, died for our sins and were baptised is that enough? We all felt that in order to truly follow this verse we must look at Luke 9:23. Although this verse is only one word different, it changed the way we all thought about Matthew 16:24. What if I was to tell you you must follow Matthew 16:24 and make sure you follow it DAILY? Wow!

We as Men and Women of Christ can not only "Do Church" and Proclaim to be Christians when it is convenient to us. We must make it a way of life; a conscious effort to deny ourselves immediate gratification and choose the daily pleasures that can be found in walking in HIS footsteps. Although they are not ovious, I bet if you look back at each day you can find a way you have been blessed daily (This was Ryan's wisdom).

This is difficult to do and was a unanimous struggle for all of us. I know that I personally struggle to keep my stride. I do think that this has been a great week for me in my walk and I know it is because my edge was sharpened on Wednesday. I hope more of my brothers attend on Wednesdays so we can keep each other sharp.

Lane
An Ironman!