Here at Sagebrush, we believe that God's call for each one of us is to become fully devoted followers of Christ. We believe this because Scripture makes it abundantly clear that God desires His people to be not just partly devoted or mostly devoted. He desires for His people to be one-hundred percent fully devoted followers, not following anyone or anything else in this world but Him.
Jesus explained during His ministry on earth that He requires His followers to be fully devoted to following Him. In Matthew 16, Jesus started to make it clear to His disciples that He would soon face suffering and eventually death. He did not leave His disciples without hope, however. He explained that after His death, “on the third day He would be raised from the dead” (verse 21). Peter did not want to hear that Jesus was going to die soon. Scripture teaches that after hearing this, Peter took Jesus aside and “began to reprimand Him,” saying, “This will never happen to you!” (verse 22). In response to this, Jesus rebuked Peter, then He said to His disciples, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me” (verse 24). Jesus left no room for partiality when it came to following Him. He called His followers to give up everything, including their own ways, to follow Him. Following Him requires deep sacrifice. It means giving up the things of this world and anything else that might compete for His attention in our lives. The sacrifices we make to be fully devoted to Christ, however, are always worth it. That is why Jesus continued, saying, "If you try to hang on to your own life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it" (verse 25). This teaching from Jesus is counter-cultural. Most people think that they have to hang on to their lives to save them. Jesus taught that the only way to save our lives is by giving up our lives in order to be fully devoted to following Him.
As He began to conclude His teaching about being fully devoted followers, Jesus asked the question, "What do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul?" (verse 26). The implied answer to this question is "Nothing." We gain nothing if we gain the world but lose our souls. Being fully devoted followers of Christ requires sacrifice, but it is always worth the cost. Will you commit to being a fully devoted follower of Christ, letting go of anything competing for your devotion besides Him? After all, if we "gain the whole world but lose [our] own soul[s]," we will benefit nothing.
Is there anything that has been competing for the place in your life that only God deserves? Maybe it is another person, or status, or wealth. Whatever it is for you, will you acknowledge anything in your life that is causing you to have divided loyalty? Then, confess that to Him today. Tell Him that you are sorry for having divided loyalty and commit to following Him wholehearted without anything else competing for the place in your life that only He deserves. Ask Him to help you as you do this.
One day the Pharisees and Sadducees came to test Jesus, demanding that he show them a miraculous sign from heaven to prove his authority.
2 He replied, “You know the saying, ‘Red sky at night means fair weather tomorrow; 3 red sky in the morning means foul weather all day.’ You know how to interpret the weather signs in the sky, but you don’t know how to interpret the signs of the times! 4 Only an evil, adulterous generation would demand a miraculous sign, but the only sign I will give them is the sign of the prophet Jonah.” Then Jesus left them and went away.
5 Later, after they crossed to the other side of the lake, the disciples discovered they had forgotten to bring any bread. 6 “Watch out!” Jesus warned them. “Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”
7 At this they began to argue with each other because they hadn’t brought any bread. 8 Jesus knew what they were saying, so he said, “You have so little faith! Why are you arguing with each other about having no bread? 9 Don’t you understand even yet? Don’t you remember the 5,000 I fed with five loaves, and the baskets of leftovers you picked up? 10 Or the 4,000 I fed with seven loaves, and the large baskets of leftovers you picked up? 11 Why can’t you understand that I’m not talking about bread? So again I say, ‘Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.’”
12 Then at last they understood that he wasn’t speaking about the yeast in bread, but about the deceptive teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
13 When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”
14 “Well,” they replied, “some say John the Baptist, some say Elijah, and others say Jeremiah or one of the other prophets.”
15 Then he asked them, “But who do you say I am?”
16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”
17 Jesus replied, “You are blessed, Simon son of John, because my Father in heaven has revealed this to you. You did not learn this from any human being. 18 Now I say to you that you are Peter (which means ‘rock’), and upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it. 19 And I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven. Whatever you forbid on earth will be forbidden in heaven, and whatever you permit on earth will be permitted in heaven.”
20 Then he sternly warned the disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.
21 From then on Jesus began to tell his disciples plainly that it was necessary for him to go to Jerusalem, and that he would suffer many terrible things at the hands of the elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of religious law. He would be killed, but on the third day he would be raised from the dead.
22 But Peter took him aside and began to reprimand him for saying such things. “Heaven forbid, Lord,” he said. “This will never happen to you!”
23 Jesus turned to Peter and said, “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.”
24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. 25 If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. 26 And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul? 27 For the Son of Man will come with his angels in the glory of his Father and will judge all people according to their deeds. 28 And I tell you the truth, some standing here right now will not die before they see the Son of Man coming in his Kingdom.”
