Installment #2 (and last!) from the book "Not a Fan" by Kyle Idleman (teen edition).Theme of the book is that people need to be 'followers of Jesus': 'friends of Jesus'. Not His 'fans':
"It's only by dying to ourselves that we truly find life. When we finally let go of our lives, we find real life in Christ. Those of you who have experienced this, understand what Jesus is saying. For some of the fans, none of this makes sense. In fact, in 1 Corinthians 1:18, Paul wrote;
'For the message of the cross is foolishness
to those who are perishing,
but to us who are being saved,
it is the power of God.'
"One version puts it this way, 'The message of the cross doesn't make sense............' (CEV). Dying to yourself doesn't make sense for the fan, but the follower understands that dying is the secret of really living. That's why we sing about the wonderful cross.
"The cross that represented defeat----
for a follower it is an image of victory.
"The cross that represented guilt----
for a follower it is an image of grace.
"The cross that represented condemnation----
for a follower it is an image of freedom.
"The cross that represented pain and suffering----
for a follower it is an image of healing and hope.
"The cross that represented death----
for a follower it is an image of life.
"The cross may not be attractive----
but for a follower it is beautiful.
"Taking up a cross and dying to myself sounds like torture. We think that such a decision would make us miserable. Is that what it means to follow Jesus? We wake up every morning and commit to misery. But when we die to ourselves and completely surrender to Him, there is a surprising side effect to dying; we discover true life. In a twist of irony, we find that giving up our lives gives us the life we so desperately wanted all along."
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