Jesus is blunt

Jesus speaks bluntly to his disciples (& us) about our lives...



Matthew 16:24 Then Jesus said to his disciples,

"If any of you wants to be my follower,

     you must turn from your selfish ambition,

     take up your cross,

     and follow me.

There's a whole lot of difference in a person who "believes" in Jesus & someone who "follows" Jesus.

Satan & his demons believe in Jesus, but they don't do what He says.

We not only have to believe Jesus is the Son of God, but we have to be & do what He told / tells us to be & do.




25 If you try to hang on to your life,

        you will lose it.

But if you give up your life for my sake,

        you will find true life.

How many people do we know (besides ourselves!) who try to hold onto their lives, their own dreams, their own picture of what they think their life should look like?

I did that for way too many decades. Since I've truly let go of my life,& my own selfish concepts of what it should look like, my life has been VERY interesting. There's been a lot of times I've been totally clueless about what's going on & why I'm being & doing what I'm being & doing. But living a life of following / obeying Him sure beats anything I could come up with.




26 And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul?

        Is anything worth more than your soul?

How many people do we know who are like that - people who have spent their lives gathering stuff, or fame,or power, or control?

What good does it do them now?

There are SO many people in my life that I've either said that verse to, or certainly want to.

And how many times do WE spend way too much time trying to accrue "the American Dream", or recognition from our friends, or just the trappings our friends & we think are important.



These are just some things I was thinkin' about as I read these verses....