The 9:23 Decision

Luke 9:23 and following verses are about the cost of following Jesus. The Lord used the illustration of someone carrying thier own cross to describe what he was saying. Someone carrying their own cross had been sentenced to death and on their way to the place where they would be crucified. Being a disciple of Christ was like being on the way to death. This death is a death to self, our own lives and works out over the span of our lives as we journey with Christ.

Today the gospel is spoken from platforms to people who have come to recieve information. Sadly, much of what is spoken is half the story. Through the illustrations, jokes and 'around the houses' methods of communicating these truths, the hearers are left with a choice. What should be communicated is that they are to die to self. It appears that the 'death' message isn't very popular in these days. It has been interpreted as not wanting the big home, the flash car or the stash of cash! While this may be a by-product of living an authentic Christian life, the 'death' message speaks of something internal - something in the depths of the heart.

One of the consequences of sin is that people tend to lean towards self in the comings and goings of life. It is easy to identify the areas where we can stop doing something or replace selfish thoughts and actions with kindness, gentleness etc. This is good but the whole point of Christ being within by the power of the Spirit is that we change. This change genuinely stops us from being self-orientated instead of 'painting over rust.' overcoming issues in life often causes much wrestling and struggles. This occurs because the motivation to change came from expectations to live the Christian life and not the inward death. Expectations, checks and measures come from a variety of sources....your self, the Pastor or vicar, other 'more perfect' Christians or those famous christians we meet in books, TV or music. We can spend a lot of time dissapointed, feeling like a substandard Christian because of the so-called 'challenges' we hear in sermons. These elements breed religious responses while all the time there is a genuine way to die to self.

Luke 9:23 tells us we must be in the process of going to our deaths and that is the condition of being a disciple. A constant, continual process of rendering our own flesh to the cross. For all who die to self there is a conclusion to carrying your own cross and that is being on the cross! Being aware of what needs to be done is not a proof that God has instigated the change. There is a biblical principle that Christians know as repentance but is a much more effective tool than we have believed.

In the Old Testament Samuel went to God because the nation wanted Kings, 'like other nations.' God, forever abiding with the will of Man allowed this, declaring it as their rejection of him. From this point, despite some good Kings in Israel, the spiritual climate went from bad to worse. Eventually God sent Elijah to be his voice in a land of apostacy. Elisha comes later and they eventually exit the land. There is good reason to believe that this exit from the land was done to mirror the entery into the land. If we compare this to our lives we can see an overall comparison: God had an idea that the people live in a land flowing with milk and honey. This was rejected by God's people and their own environment became contanimated with sin. This is like our lives if we do not do God's will. The provision of God for the people of the land was to have Elijah and Elisha go the other way. they went out the same way Joshuah came in. There was a cost, Elijah was taken but it meant Elisha was twice as effective. It also meant the curses of Deuteronomy had ended as a consiquence of sin. This is the principle of repentance being established.

We need to decide to live a life of death to self. This means by truly repenting. Here are the important observations of the exit from the land that constitute true repentance:

• Elisha and Elijah embarked on a purposed journey
• Elisha had to choose to follow even through discouragement
• They headed to a place that represented decision making, the desert
• God will take away 'the old thing'
• God will make you able to re-enter that area equipped and empowered
• It is 'a difficult thing'

So repentance has a much more powerful effect when we discover that it has an establishing element in the Old Testament. Someone once said that the Old Testament is the movie and the New Testament is the script. This certainly fits with the story of repentance and the way we die to self.