Jonathan Is Losing His Life

"Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lost it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel's will save it (Mark 8: 34, 35)."

As my husband and I dropped Jonathan off at the airport in Uganda to send him home to Wisconsin, he had tears in his eyes. They were not tears for missing us. They were tears of compassion for the pastors and church leaders he was training. He had a profitable law practice that had been in his family for years. Within about a year or so he announced that he was leaving his law practice so he could travel to developing countries to train church leaders who could not afford a seminary education. He not only left his practice but sold it. Jonathan understood what it meant to lose his life for Christ and the sake of the gospel. There are many stories out there of men and women who have done what Jonathan did.

Whenever I read those verses I ask myself "Do I really deny myself to follow Christ?" I am sure most of us have not done this as we should and probably don't think much about it. For those who have stable jobs, a comfortable income and the privilege of living close to family it would be very hard to do what Jonathan did even if they felt the Lord calling them to do it. The Lord uses us wherever we are and sometimes His calling enables us to stay where we are. But the question is are we denying ourselves and following Him with a willingness and obedience to give it all up should He have plans that would drastically change our lives? Many would try to push these thoughts away hoping they would disappear and live miserable lives because of choosing to save his life instead of losing it for the sake of the gospel. To make a choice that would drastically change our lives would be hard for me and for you, yet this is one of those exhortations in scripture we must wrestle with if we say we are followers of Christ.

At the end of Jesus' exhortation to take up the cross to follow Him he says "For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels (Mark 8: 38)."