FROM THE DAWGHOUSE…
THE CROSS IS A ONEWAY JOURNEY
“Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. 26 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul? 27 For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay each person according to what he has done.”
Matthew 16:24-27
One of our DAWG tactics is passing on what we learned from the Father that day to someone else. To whom do we share our thoughts? Well, your wife, a friend, your boss, I don’t know…whoever you have the opportunity to open up to about it. Look for open doors to slip truth in…be bold…someone needs what you have to share-trust me on this.
Ok, when you do that you have no idea the impact you can have.
Like the lady in the class I’m teaching at church on DAWG right now. We start our time with two or three people sharing what they learned in their DAWG that week.
She said she read the above passage in the Bible and as she was reflecting and thinking it through it occurred to her when she reflected on the passage, that in Jesus’ day, His invitation “to take up one’s cross was a one-way journey.”
Let it hit you…don’t move on: “to take up one’s cross was a one-way journey.”
Ok, that sunk in deep to me…hey, hours later, the next day, I’m still thinking about it. Because she passed on what she learned from that passage, my day today, and, who knows, the rest of my life?, will have a stronger focus on Jesus and for Jesus.
How did she expand on that idea in her journal? I don’t know exactly but here’s where this text and her clear summation of it hooked me.
- First, I remembered these words from The Cost of Discipleship:
“When Christ calls a man,” says Dietrich Bonhoeffer, “he bids him come and die.”
Jesus is not an add-on to my life, a value-added soft spot, an enabler to my selfish instincts. He’s my Savior and the Lord who leads my life now. He calls the shots. He charts a whole new way. With Him I’m not playing religious games. I’m born again man, the old doesn’t define me anymore. I’m dead to my failure and sin.
And then…
- Discipleship is a one-way journey to death to self and death to a self-salvation project, and death to a dying culture to faith and true salvation and life in the only one who can provide it! Salvation is by grace!
- Discipleship is “no turning back, no turning back” as the old hymn said. And why would I want to go back to fear and insecurity and guilt and shame and hopelessness? I don’t! Grace energizes me daily to go forward.
- Discipleship is a one-way journey to true manhood and away from false manhood strategies offered by a philosophically confused world.
- Discipleship is a one-way journey away from guilt and shame to innocence and worth that cannot be matched by anything I accomplish or any value another human being can add to my life. We were never meant to carry our shame beyond the Cross.
“To take up one’s cross was a one-way journey.”
Oh, I’m sure The Holy Spirit will enable me to mine more gold from that statement, from that passage today as I hit the bricks today.
So read the text above…reflect on the summation statement, and write down some thoughts that the Father might bring to you. How does this passage apply to you right now…today?
I’m so thankful for the ministry of my friend. I’m glad SHE wasn’t silent.
May we men not be silent either.
You take it to heart,
Pete Alwinson
