Lost in Translation

At a time in my life where I was anxious about my relationship with God, feeling as though there was some “spiritual ladder” I just wasn’t climbing high enough, and getting knocked down a few steps on my roughest days, a good friend and mentor said something that changed my life. She told me that salvation is not a one-time explosive experience; it is a daily decision.

Every morning, every minute, we make the decision to die to ourselves and live through Christ. I cannot begin to describe the relief I felt and the sudden release of the pressure I had been putting on myself when I first understood that His mercies are truly new every day. Though we are all aiming to finish this race, it still must be done one foot after the other.

While it’s a huge relief that we are meant to take things day by day, it can be a process of learning to make that commitment every day. While Mike Cross was delivering his message on Sunday, he explained the actual process Jesus experienced while dying on the cross. He endured an excruciatingly long process—suffocation. It is so appropriate then, that in Matthew 16:24 the Bible says “Then Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.’”.  

When we make the decision over and over again to die to ourselves, it is not a quick, easy process, like a beheading. We don’t just sever the parts of ourselves we must sacrifice. But rather, it is a process of suffocation, of not allowing the desires of the flesh to breathe and grow within us, but instead, to live fully as we are filled with the breath of God.

The great news in which we place our hope, however, is that Jesus did not just die. He rose again, a seemingly impossible miracle. The world tells us that we should live only for ourselves, that we shouldn’t sacrifice our lives or change our ways for any god. What they do not understand is that our God is a LIVING and ACTIVE God. When we die to ourselves, we don’t remain in the tomb. Instead, Jesus made it clear that “for whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it,” (Matthew 16:25). We have this promise not just in heaven, but on earth, that those who take up their cross and lose their life for Jesus’ sake will experience a new and abundant life with Him.

This week, as we reflect on our daily decision, I challenge you to do as I was advised by my wonderful friend. Each morning, as you are beginning your day, make the conscious decision (whether in your thoughts or out loud): “Today I will take up my cross. Today I will die to myself and my desires. Today I will receive the life through Jesus that God promises me.”

Written by: Brianna Vanderveen

Edited by: Brigit Edwards