A Desire for Denial

Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself…Mark 8:34

It’s one thing to have a desire for something, but it’s quite another to realize what that desire may require of us. A person may have a desire to be a doctor. This will require a commitment to years of schooling in preparation. Someone else may have a desire to reach an athletic goal, this will call for a personal discipline of the body. There were those who expressed a desire to follow Jesus. It was important for them to understand that this would require a denial of self. Sometimes we struggle more with ourselves than other people. Pride, selfishness, bitterness, lack of forgiveness, all find comforting justification in the self life. The self life will always stand in the way of following the Savior. The denial of self is the letting go of my will in exchange for God’s will. It’s surrendering the throne of my life to the rightful King of my heart.