“Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires.”
Galatians 5:24
In Matthew 16:24, Jesus gives a startling command to those who want to follow Him: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” Since crucifixion was the most brutal way one could die, Jesus’ words to His disciples to die to selfishness were all the more stark.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a Lutheran pastor and Nazi dissident during World War II, wrote of this notion of death to self. “When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die” (1937). Eight years later, Bonhoeffer was literally called to die. He was arrested by the Nazis and transferred to Flossenbürg concentration camp where he was hanged just three weeks before the end of the war. Before he was executed, however, he preached his final sermon to his fellow prisoners, saying, “This is for me the end. The beginning of life.”
Trusting God completely, particularly in times of great loss, removes our false trusts (something other than God in whom we would trust) and helps us relinquish the secret idols of our hearts.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a Lutheran pastor and Nazi dissident during World War II, wrote of this notion of death to self. “When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die” (1937). Eight years later, Bonhoeffer was literally called to die. He was arrested by the Nazis and transferred to Flossenbürg concentration camp where he was hanged just three weeks before the end of the war. Before he was executed, however, he preached his final sermon to his fellow prisoners, saying, “This is for me the end. The beginning of life.”
Trusting God completely, particularly in times of great loss, removes our false trusts (something other than God in whom we would trust) and helps us relinquish the secret idols of our hearts.
Scripture Focus
Matthew 16:24-28
Insight
“Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.” (Psalm 51:7)
Bible In A Year
- 2 Samuel 19
- Psalm 145
- 2 Thessalonians 1-3
