Once when Jesus was praying alone, with only the disciples near him, he asked them, "Who do the crowds say that I am?" They answered, "John the Baptist; but others, Elijah; and still others, that one of the ancient prophets has arisen." He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" Peter answered, "The Messiah of God."

He sternly ordered and commanded them not to tell anyone, saying, "The Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised."

Then he said to them all, "If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will save it. What does it profit them if they gain the whole world, but lose or forfeit themselves? Those who are ashamed of me and of my words, of them the Son of Man will be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels…"

Luke 9:18-27

If we were only customers of Almighty God, we could be selective in our faith and reject anything we did not like. But that is not an idea we get from Jesus. He pointed us to the cross, not to a spiritual check-out counter.

In a world where the customer is always right, it takes radical obedience to God to keep from buying into "Consumer Christianity."

"Follow Me," is a command. It doesn’t mean we should follow Jesus whenever we feel like it, we have to make a life-long commitment. He will lead the way. He will gird us, and He will guide us. Leave the hard stuff to Him. Just follow.

Following Jesus is not always easy,

but it’s always right.

Our Daily Bread – January 27, 2005