Luke 9:23-25

 Daily Meditation: Luke 9:23-25

 
  Luke 9:23-25

23 Jesus also said to all the people, “If you wish to be a follower of mine, deny yourself and take up your cross each day, and follow me. 24 For if you choose to save your life, you will lose it, and if you lose your life for my sake, you will save it. 25 What does it profit you to gain the whole world while you destroy or damage yourself? 

My Beloved,  Jesus, how often I have said I belong to You.  I have committed my life to You.  I wish to please You and You alone.  How often I have told You that You could do what You will with me.

Today You challenge me with Your response to all I have said since my personal encounter with You and my conversion.  In fact You put before me a three fold challenge:

1)  I must deny myself

2)  I must pick up whatever cross comes my way daily

3)  I must follow You.

All day long I am bombarded with temptations to self indulgence in so many different ways - eat more, sleep more, drink more, laze around more, waste more time and money in useless things, indulge in uninspiring and unnecessary talk including gossip, the list can go on and on and on ad infinitum ad nauseum.

I am not called to self denial for the sake of self denial, it has to be oriented toward the purpose of facing the daily discomforts and pinpricks of life.  To face the small and great difficulties and bear them with grace, courage and fortitude for Your sake without whining and complaining.  I must be patient, persevering, kind, compassionate, merciful, gentle always.  In short, when the times are hardest and most difficult, it is then I must most sincerely reflect and image You.

This is how I am called to follow You.  My gaze and my focus must be on You and You alone not some self glorifying pipe dream or self absorbed imaginary drama going on in my head in which I play the starring role of a tin pot god.  All that I say, think, do and am must be oriented towards glorifying You, adoring and worshiping You and making You known and loved in the world.

Beloved, I can fool myself and everyone else and make a great pretense of following You but You are most emphatic in what You tell me.  If I want to spend my life and my eternity with You, I must consider my life well lost for You and for the Gospel.   I can win all kinds of accolades and acclaim with a great show of false modesty, deceiving everyone, but the end result of such a farce would be eternal damnation.

My Beloved Jesu, meek and humble of heart, teach me to  be like You in all things.  To love as You love, to live as You lived and to die as You did - pleasing to God the Father always.