Jesus said in Matthew 16:24 “Those who would come after Me must deny themselves and follow Me.”
B.B. McKinney pinned these words in 1937. “It may be thro’ the shadows dim, or o’er the stormy sea, I take the cross and follow him wherever he leadeth me.”
I am still striving, even today, to know what living like this looks like.
It’s one thing to read these words in comfort; It’s another thing to to ponder them when the way is hard and dark. It’s one thing to say these words out loud in safety and prosperity; it’s another thing to believe these words when you’re very core is shaking as you’re reputation is being torn apart by wolves. It’s one thing to deny yourself; it’s another thing to deny yourself.
A few weeks ago Baptist Press asked for another interview after I spoke to a group of Baptists of those soul searching days when the labels of kidnapper, trafficker, and criminal were how I might likely have been known as for the rest of my life. I can rarely sing that song anymore. I do… but I sing it with tears because I know that to follow Christ I will have to deny myself and that is the greatest monster I face, myself. How will I ever defeat this beast who never wants to be denied? (read the full article here)
“I am resolved no longer to linger, charmed by the world’s delight; Things that are higher, things that are nobler, these have allured my sight” (I am Resolved)
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