You Can't Hold on to this Life

Sunday, March 1st, 2026

6:51 pm

Good afternoon! I'm hoping on here pretty late today, but it has been a very busy day. Busy in a good way. Right now I am in the middle of cooking supper. It has been a beautiful day outside today, and I have really enjoyed it. I have been outside most of the day. Ready to settle down for the day. So let's get into the Scripture.

Today I am in Matthew 16:21-28, Mark 8:31-9:1, and Luke 9:22-27. Jesus tells His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem. And while He is there He will suffer many terrible things at the hands of the religious leaders there. That He would be killed, but on the third day He would be raised from the dead. Peter took Him aside and reprimanded Jesus for saying such things. But Jesus told Him, "Get away from me Satan! You are a dangerous trap to me. You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God's. (Matthew 16:23)." Then He turns to His disciples and tells them that if any one of them wants to be His followers they most take up their cross and follow Him. Then He tells them that if they hang on to this life they will lose it, but if they give up their lives for His sake, they will save it. Telling them that nothing is worth more than their souls.  Mark and Luke add that Jesus tells His disciples that if anyone is ashamed of the Son of Man and His message, that the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when He comes back. He goes on to tell them that the Son of Man would come with His angels in the glory of His Father, and judge all people according to their deeds. And that some of them would not die before they see the Son of Man coming in His Kingdom.

Peter was looking at what Jesus said through a human perspective. How many times do we do just that? Jesus told them what was going to happen, and they did not want to believe it. Peter had just got done calling Jesus the Messiah, and now He was reprimanding Jesus for what He had said. Wow. Many times though, when we see the bad that is going on to us or around us, we get angry at God. Sometimes even shout at Him. Not wanting to accept what we heard or were told. But we don't see everything. We only have a small piece of the story. God sees all and knows all. He knows exactly what is going on. Whether we understand or not, God does. And everything works together for the good of those who trust Him. Then He tells us that if we truly want to follow Him, we must pick up our cross and follow, but if we don't do we truly believe? It is a very hard decision, but He tells us as a promise that if we do pick up our cross and follow, we will gain so much more than what this world could ever offer us. Jesus offers us eternity with Him. Does that mean it is going to be easy while we are here on earth? No. Picking up your cross and following Him, is crucifying your fleshly, selfish desires to that cross daily. But there is hope in the midst of the trials and tribulations. That hope is in Jesus Christ. That all the struggle is not in vain. He has a plan and a purpose that we can not see. But He has got it all under control. Trust Him, and follow. This world and everything in it will pass away, but God is always constant.