Eternal perspective, in following Christ

Eternal perspective, in following Christ

S Luke 9:23-26 (NIV)
23 Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. 24 For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it. 25 What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very self? 26 Whoever is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.

O - Jesus, said this to a number of people who had come to see him, heard His teachings, and were eager to follow Him.   I believe He did this not to rebuke them but to ensure they fully understood what it means to follow Him.   Some may have been caught up in the moment of meeting Christ, but yet had not truly counted the cost of being His follower.  They had things they would have to give up, mostly the non eternal things of this world, but in some cases even the close relationships in family would have to be set aside in the short term to follow Him.

A -  The application for me is to remember the cost I had already agreed to give up, my previous needs and goals, for Christ's desires and goals.    Over the past few years I may have forgotten some eternal perspective on my life, and that I have had a desire to be a slave to Christ.   This eternal perspective is important as the decisions each day in light of eternity and mission of Christ, is often times entirely different.

P - Lord I pray for a refreshed perspective of my life in service to you, in light of your eternal purpose and the daily events that are going on in my life.  I pray this in Jesus name.