Friday, March 23, 2012

March 24, 2012

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

So, what does it cost to have CRAZY LOVE?

Are you sure you want the answer?

Jesus says that if you want to receive His freely given love, it will cost you everything!

You say, "That sounds like a heavy price! How can He ask that much?"

Jesus could ask that much because He was about to give that much to make God's love available to you! He was about to face a cruel and excruciating death on a cross to atone for your sins. You don't think that was costly?

When Jesus made this challenge to His disciples they were standing in an area called Caesarea Philippi. All of them were well aware of what happened in that dark and evil area. This is where the Romans had put down several attempted rebellions by Jewish zealots and over the past three decades and estimated 30,000 rebels had been publicly crucified in a blatant attempt to discourage any further uprisings. There very well may have been some crosses on the horizon as Jesus spoke.

So, Jesus picked the most challenging place on the planet to call out His followers on their commitment. "Do you love me enough to suffer as these have suffered?" or "Do you want my love badly enough to give up all for it?"

History records their answers. What is yours?