There’s an old hymn that starts, “Take my life and let it be consecrated, Lord, to Thee.” It came to mind today as I read this passage in Mark. It challenged me and shamed me and brought me hope all at the same time.
In Mark 8, Jesus describes what it truly looks like to be a disciple. To be a follower of Christ.
“And Jesus called [to Him] the throng with His disciples and said to them, If anyone intends to come after Me, let him deny himself [forget, ignore, disown, and lose sight of himself and his own interests] and take up his cross, and [joining Me as a disciple and siding with My party] follow with Me [continually, cleaving steadfastly to Me].” Mark 8:34
As I read this again today, I paused. Do I deny myself? Maybe. Sometimes. Have I lost sight of myself only to see Him? Do I ignore myself? Have I disowned myself? That’s huge!
Do you know what disown even means? Refuse to acknowledge or maintain connection with. Does that describe me? Does that describe you? I feel pretty connected to myself a lot of the time.
I had several emotions course through me as I reread this verse for the millionth time in the dark quiet this morning. There was joy because parts of me are fully surrendered to Him, but that was quickly overwhelmed by the self-loathing as I thought of all the places that are still mine. ALL mine.
What if my life as it is today doesn’t line up with Jesus’ definition of a disciple? How do I make myself a living sacrifice?
How do I make all of me completely His?
It’s a process. Its a journey. It will take time. The problem with a living sacrifice is that it likes to crawl off the altar. But there are some things we can do to make sure it stays there.
Prayer
It’s a daily prayer. “Take my life and let it be consecrated, Lord, to Thee.” It’s an all-day-long conversation with the Father.
Jesus told His disciples in the garden that if they prayed they would avoid temptation. That still stands true for us today. The more we find ourselves communing with Him, the less likely we are to put ourselves first.
It’s in that place of intimate daily connection that we see His heart and feel His pulse and begin to go and do likewise.
It’s from that place of oneness with Him that only comes through prayer that we can truly disown ourselves.
dying
Once we’re full of His Spirit through prayer, the dying to self can truly begin. Yes, we are alive in Christ, but the Bible still has a lot to say about a continual dying we’re supposed to be doing.
We’ve been crucified with Him (Galatians 2:20) . We’re to consider ourselves dead in Him (Colossians 3:5). We are to put to death the deeds of these bodies we live in temporarily (Romans 8:12-13). And this is just a sampling of scriptures.
It’s dying a thousand deaths a day to my flesh and turning every no to me into a yes to Him.
It’s not just about saying no to ourselves. No, no, no! We do need to say no, but the adventure is found in saying yes to Him.
Grace
It’s grace. Lots of grace. Oceans and oceans of GRACE.
It’s offering ourselves grace when we realize we’re missing that self-denying mark. Again. That we are living for “me” first yet again. And again and again and again.
It’s forgiving ourselves and pressing forward, determined to live fully for Him. After all, if He expects us to forgive others 70×7 times in one day (that’s 490 times by the way), and if He can forgive us an innumerable amount of times, I think we can forgive ourselves too.
Grace is a beautiful thing we owe ourselves.
Let’s pray this together now.
Fully surrendered, I offer myself to You. I give You permission. Take my life and let it be consecrated, Lord, to Thee.
(If you like to listen, here are a couple podcasts on Living for the Well Done – A Disciple’s Life)