Self denial for Christ.

Mathew 16:24-27
²⁴ Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.

Deny yourself and take up your cross.  As an American I have certain rights.  As a Christian I have none.  Yes there are promises of God, but there are no rights.  God owes me NOTHING.

How many rights does a dead man have?  How many arguments can he win?  Can he go where he will when he wants?  No, he is dead. To take up my cross means to die to self. To give up my will and what I want.

²⁵ For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. ²⁶ What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? 

When you give your life for the sake of Christ you will not be losing your life.  Look back at the martyrs of the Church.  They gave there lives for Christ and many came to Christ as a result.

We're surrounded by stuff and bombarded by information and entertainment the I for one rarely think of eternity.  Yet vs 26 asks a question that each of us needs to answer as we go about our lives.  What good is gaining it all if you give up your soul?  Your soul is the only thing you take with you when you die.  The Pharaoh's proved that.  All their riches were put in the tomb for the after life yet now it resides in museums all over the world.

²⁷ For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what they have done.

This is not about earning salvation.  This is about reward.  When my girls do good I reward them.  They did not need to earn my love.  Even if I chose not to reward them, they are still my children.  Having said that, when Jesus comes back I don't want to be standing there having done nothing worthy of reward.

We work for rewards here on earth that will not last.  Work for those things that will last for all eternity.

God Bless.