Ashamed of Me

Ashamed of Me

Mark 8:34 – Then Jesus called the crowd, along with his disciples, and said to them, “if anyone wants to become my follower, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. 35 – For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and for the gospel will save it.

verse 36 – For what benefit is it for a person to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his life? 37 – What can a person give in exchange for his life? 38 – For if anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.

Becoming a follower of Jesus involves making an important decision. A decision to deny one’s self.  According to my Bible dictionary: to deny means ‘to affirm that one has no acquaintance or connection with someone’ and ‘to forget one’s self, lose sight of one’s self and one’s own interests.’

If I want no acquaintance or connection with Jesus then when He returns He will honor my decision by affirming that we have no connection with each other.  Unfortunately with that affirmation comes no possibility of being taken to heaven. My life is lost.

However, If I decide I want no acquaintance or connection with myself, with my life, my identity, and with my own interests in order to follow Jesus and the gospel, then Jesus honors that decision in full view of all the witnesses of heaven when He returns in the glory of the Father with the holy angels.  My life is saved.

We can’t have it both ways.  We can’t follow Jesus and maintain our interests.  One has to be given up for the other.  This is extremely unpopular.  Are we able to endure it when the world becomes ashamed of us?  Social pressure is a powerful tool of Satan to shame people, deceiving them into either denying Jesus or deceiving them into thinking they can have Jesus and maintain their identities and self-interests.

We want to follow Jesus, right? Then let’s be willing to change (even against the pressures of the enemy). Remember what Jesus said when He began proclaiming the gospel of God in Mark 1:15:  “The time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the gospel!”

May the world be ashamed of me as I choose to follow Jesus today!