Then he said to them all: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self? If anyone is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.”** Luke 9:23-26 (NIV)**
God is always present. Time is fleeting. And it is easy to waste this one life we have been given. Remember, God has a plan for each life and we are living our best life when we are standing firm in His good, pleasing and perfect will. It would also serve us well to be reminded that we are not our own either. One day we will all have to give an account for this one life we have been given. Every.last.one.of.us. And Satan - and the flesh as well - seeks to divert us from these thoughts through a plethora of distractions. He desires to set our attention on the lower objects of nature. He knows if we become sidetracked by the lesser the greater goes undone. “We will get to it tomorrow,” the reasoning goes yet tomorrow never comes. Procrastination, dilly dallying, and daydreaming causes the minutes we suppose we are goofing off to turn into hours and then days, months and years. It is uber easy to waste a life. Ask Solomon when you get to heaven who pursued it all prior to turning back to God. We are to invest our time in kingdom works not waste it.
Jesus tells us the remedy to a less distracted life is to follow Him. Deny self, take up our cross, and follow hard after the Master, Who, though God poured His life out like a drink offering for me and for you. Paul tells us in Philippians 2:5-11 (NIV): “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death--even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” We abase and God exalts.
There will be many distractions in this life – just as there were in our Lord’s - many profitable ones as well as many we are to disdain. Knowledge of His Word and ways help us to prayerfully discern which is which. And we live for His glory and His will not our own.
Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.** 1 John 2:6 (NIV)**