Follow On

You have been asked the question, “Are you a fan, or are you a follower?” Hopefully you have taken the time to consider your answer carefully. Denying yourself and picking up your cross daily is not for the faint of heart. And yet, if I am to do this, I must die and therefore my heart would stop. Maybe Paul said it better when he wrote, “I am crucified with Christ. It is not I who live, but Christ who lives in me.”

But in our humanness, we fight and struggle to stay alive. We have this innate ability to sense when something dangerous enough to end our life is near and either resist it or run away. So, looking at the cross with our eyes open to the inevitable ending of death, we size the situation up and ask, “Can I survive this?” The short answer is, NO. You are not supposed to survive it. You are to die to self and live in Christ. As you were lowered into the watery grave of baptism, your old self died. Coming up out of that grave, you are a new person; a new creation. Created for good works that the Father has already planned for you to do. That’s the beginning of the journey. That’s the daily path we follow.

I look forward to celebrating the Lord’s resurrection with you on March 31. We’ll start a new sermon series that day called “Raised to Walk”.