This morning, Lord, you trace a path before me—one that does not lead around the cross, but straight through it.
You have shown me what it means to truly love by going all the way to the end, to your very last breath.
“Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” (John 15:13)
You did this in perfect humility, without seeking your own glory, in complete obedience to the Father.
“he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross!” (Philippians 2:8)
Lord, Help Me to Follow You
Then you turn this call to me, to each one of us. “If anyone would come after me…” This is not a command, but an invitation. An invitation to renounce my ego, my selfishness, my constant need for control.
An invitation to take up my cross each day. Not some abstract cross, but my own, the one I face today—my fears, my relationships, my failures, and my duties.
Today, you invite me to step out of my comfort zone, away from my calculated plans, and to accept that being your disciple comes at a cost.
“And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.” (Luke 14:27)
To Lose in You, Only to Find in You
So often, I want to save my life. I desire security, comfort, and recognition. I build walls around myself so that nothing can wound me. But You show me another path, the path of paradox. A path where life is not to be saved, but to be given away.
“For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it.” (Luke 9:24)
What good are all the successes, all the riches of this world, all the praise of others, if in the process I lose You, and with You, lose my very self? What good is it if my soul remains empty and hungry?
“What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?” (Mark 8:36)
And so I ask you, Lord. Give me the courage today to choose You. Help me not to run from my cross, but to embrace it as an opportunity to follow You. Let my cross be a sign of my love for You, not a burden that I despise.
Thank you, for you are worthy of my “losing” everything for your sake, so that in You I may find life in all its fullness.
Amen.
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