Matthew 10:34-37

Rachel Workman: ³⁸ If you refuse to take up your cross and follow me, you are not worthy of being mine. ³⁹ If you cling to your life, you will lose it; but if you give up your life for me, you will find it. Very hard words aren't they. How do we give up our life? At times it feels like we're trapped living in this world. With God saying uh no you don't! Don't you dare take part in this world around you. I guess in a sense we are trapped, trapped by sin and sinful natures. Take up your cross and follow me can be pretty simple really. Stop doing things that hurt others and choose to love them instead. There is peace in living a life that Christ would want us to live. That's not say that we can achieve these things every second of every day because we are human but we can strive to. 

⁴⁰ “Anyone who receives you receives me, and anyone who receives me receives the Father who sent me. ⁴¹ If you receive a prophet as one who speaks for God,^[m] you will be given the same reward as a prophet. And if you receive righteous people because of their righteousness, you will be given a reward like theirs. ⁴² And if you give even a cup of cold water to one of the least of my followers, you will surely be rewarded.” Notice the audience to which he speaks to here. These promises are not extended to those who reject Christ but to those who are Christ followers.

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Allen Michaels:  ³⁸ Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me. To take up our cross and follow Jesus means to be willing to PUBLICLY identify with him, to experience almost certain opposition, and to be committed to face even suffering and death for his sake. When I say suffering I’m not referring to illness or loss of a job type suffering. I’m talking suffering as being beheaded, burned alive in a small cage, being crucified, or watching our children killed in front of us if we don’t renounce Christ in the name of islam. If we do not experience this in our lifetime, our children certainly will. This is when we will prove our belief, faith and loyalty to Christ. We will suffer almost as much as Christ suffered on the cross. And we will be scared. If Christ sweated blood the night before he died, imagine our fear level when we are facing death. This is when we must know that God is right there with us. He suffers when we suffer, but he will leave or forsake us. No matter the pain we are experiencing he is still there with us. Why? Because his only begotten Son died for us, assuring us that God will always be by our side. We need to remember this every time we deny God, by passing up an opportunity to serve him, regardless of whom it offends or the ridicule we will receive. ³⁹ Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it. Clinging to this life (leisure, power, popularity, and financial security) may cause us to forfeit the best from Christ in this world and the next. The more we love this life’s rewards, the more we will discover how empty they really are. Until we really loosen our grasp on earthly rewards, will we really be able to truly follow Christ and enjoy life. In doing so, we will inherit eternal life and begin at once to experience the benefits of following Christ.

Being committed to Christ will most likely separate us from friends and loved ones. I was once told by family members that I need to “tone it down on Facebook.” I just let it slide as it was CHRISTmas Eve, and they were both drunk, especially the one that had been eating cake with the plastic Jesus. (We always sing happy birthday to Jesus on CHRISTmas Eve as that’s what we want to instill into the kids, not gimme, gimme, gimme.”) And the lesbian, well she was just drunk and argumentative. I blocked them from my Facebook page. In hindsight, I probably should have kept them as friends so they would still have the option to read my posts. Anyhow, in saying this (verses 34-39); Jesus was not encouraging disobedience to parents or conflict at home. Rather, he was showing that his presence demands a decision. Because some will follow Christ and some won’t, conflict will inevitably arise. As we take up our cross and follow him, out different values, morals, goals, and purposes will set us apart from others. Don’t neglect your family, but remember that your commitment to God is even more important than they are. God should always be our first priority. 

⁴⁰ “Anyone who welcomes you welcomes me, and anyone who welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. ⁴¹ Whoever welcomes a prophet as a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and whoever welcomes a righteous person as a righteous person will receive a righteous person’s reward. ⁴² And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones who is my disciple, truly I tell you, that person will certainly not lose their reward.” How much we love God can be measured by how well we treat others. This is a daily struggle for me. Jesus’ example of giving a cup of cold water to a thirsty child is a good model of unselfish service. A child usually can’t or won’t return a favor. God notices every good deed we do or don’t do as if he were the one receiving it. Is there something unselfish we can do for someone else today? God notices us so there’s no reason to intentionally be seen doing it. Trans-Siberian Orchestra (TSO) did a song, years back, called “Old City Bar.” There are a couple of lines that have stuck with me to this very day. It follows right along with Matthew 25:40, "And the King will say, 'I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!'

If you want to arrange it
This world you can change it
If we could somehow make this
Christmas thing last

By helping a neighbor
Or even a stranger

And to know who needs help
You need only just ask

(Old City Bar, TSO)

“Just ask”…It’s just that simple.